


The Queen of New Orleans

by Handonlover



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dark Hope Mikaelson, F/M, Handon endgame, Hybrids, Slow Burn, Unplanned Pregnancy, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 111,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26031220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Handonlover/pseuds/Handonlover
Summary: What if Hope went to New Orleans after she saw Landon and Josie kiss? What if she never stayed?It sets 15 years after the Malivore jump. Hope left Mistyc Falls with something unexpected that was Landon's. She is a full tribrid now, and she rules New Orleans just like her dad.Things are different from The Originals and Legacies plot. Every Mikaelson is dead, the Hollow killed them. Malivore is destroyed for good after season 1 ended.
Relationships: Landon Kirby/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 279
Kudos: 219





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It will be Handon story at one point but in this chapter I basically just explain what happened to Hope. Not much plot in this.
> 
> This is my first story and I am really bad at writing so don't hate me. English is not my first language so bare with me. Excuse my spelling and grammar mistakes, I am sure there's a ton.

Hope Mikaelson knew one thing for sure, that she was utterly and completely alone. That’s been the case for 15 years and that’s how she liked it.

Hope was sitting in her favorite bar in New Orleans. A rustic little thing in the French Quarter called Rousseau’s. She was slowly sipping her Bourbon trying not to think about the time she spent here as a child with her family. 

_ Her mother died when she was 15 so as her father and his siblings. It was her fault. She was the one the Hollow wanted but her family was determined to save her life. They split the Hollow’s essence through his father and his siblings to contain it and keep it away from Hope, but not even an original vampire or a thousand year old witch could hold that much dark magic. It killed them. Killed them all. She went back to school and tried so hard not to get close to anyone. She knew if she would let anyone in, they would have the same fate as her family. She was mean to anyone who tried to get close to her, kept everyone at arm's length. No one would break through her, she thought. No one would ever have to suffer because of her. Then she met Landon Kirby and her whole plan collapsed. First Landon, then Josie, Lizzie and the Super Squad as they called it. Landon helped her open up, he broke down her walls she so carefully kept up. She had friends and a boyfriend she loved and cared about and they cared about her too. She really thought she could get away with it, that she would get her happy ending. So foolish even childish to think about it now. At least they are alive or she hopes so. She hadn’t heard about any of them in 15 years. She jumped into Malivore to save them. It worked; she destroyed Malivore, no more monsters, no more danger, and no memory of Hope. As soon as she jumped Malivore spit her out but it was too late for him, the tribrid blood did its job and he was dead. Her first instinct was to go back to Mystic Falls, to the Salvatore school, to Landon. So, she did. No one remembered her, no one missed her. They were all happy, Landon and Josie were dating. Everyone was happy, happier she thought. So she hopped on the first bus to New Orleans broken hearted. What did she even think, why would anyone miss her? The abomination, the mistake who never should have been born. Why did she even survive Malivore? What was her purpose now? She had no one and she had nothing. Nothing to hold on to. After her family passed away at least she had school, she had classes and training. It grounded her, gave her a sad excuse of life. What was she going to do now? Why was she even on the bus to New Orleans? There was nothing there for her. Then she thought about her father, his obsession to rule the city. She thought about her mother and her pack. They wouldn’t even know who Hope Mikaelson was. Maybe it was better if no one knew her, maybe it would be easier to just be. Then her mother’s words struck. “You are the one that could finally unite all the factions”. Why did she think about this? Could she? Could she be the one? No, she is not strong enough. Maybe, maybe one day she would make her parents proud. No, not maybe. She will make them proud and that was her only goal now. She will rule the city one day. She will unite and make peace between vampires, werewolves and witches. She will be the greatest witch this world has ever seen. With that determination she found herself at her family home in the French Quarter. _

Deep in her thoughts, one of her Hybrids, Alex rushed into the bar. He seemed upset.

“It happened again, a wolf is missing. Her name is Laura, she is 18. a newly triggered wolf. Last night was her first transition. After she turned, she never came back, no one saw her.” Alex said with worry in his eyes.

Hope gulped down the rest of her whisky. No, not again. They were attacking when they were the most vulnerable.

“How did she trigger her curse?” Hope asked with no real emotion in her voice.

She knew exactly which faction took the girl. No vampires or witches dared to violate her rules and of course, the wolves wouldn’t hurt their own. Humans…The mayor was carefully selected by Hope and of course followed her rules, but stray humans probably hunters were attacking the local wolf pack for weeks now. The city was watched over by dozens of witches on every new supernatural arrival but there was no way on checking the humans. Tourists came and went by. No one knew their real intentions.

“An old lady stepped in front of her car, couldn’t stop in time.” He said.

“Ask around the lady’s family, if needed compel them.” Hope instructs her hybrid but didn’t really think the family had anything to do with Laura’s disappearance.

She decided that she would go in person to check on the wolves. This was the third case like this in the past four weeks in the pack. Hope usually didn't deal with them in person but she couldn’t stop the anxious feeling building in her stomach.

As she said the words, Alex was out of the bar almost as he was compelled. In a way he was. Sometimes she almost felt bad for the hybrids and the sire bond, but this was the only reason she trusted them. It was a careful selection of the hybrids. They were loyal and would do anything for Hope. She had five hybrids all from the crescent pack. The wolves accepted her first as their leader. She had the Labonair birthmark on her right shoulder as an obvious proof that she was the rightful alpha of the crescent pack.

Hope got another whisky, tossed it down quickly then headed to her car to drive to the Bayou.

_ She was of course their alpha, but she was also the leader of the vampires and the witches as well. She named a leader in each faction whom she had monthly meetings with, but other than them and her hybrids, she was not much on personal communication. She was cold and unkind to everyone. She was harsh, everyone in the city knew what she was capable of if one not played by her rules. She had to prove herself when she arrived to the city and decided to continue her father’s legacy. It wasn’t easy. The pack’s secondary alpha was Abigail, a middle-aged woman. She was kind and took care of Hope when she arrived to New Orleans broken after the Malivore incident. Hope was grateful to her. She had done more than anyone could imagine but she didn’t show that to her or anyone else. They didn’t talk about it anymore. They only met at the monthly meetings and Hope only cared about business, what went on in the city. Hope took comfort in her once, she held her hand when no one would be there for her, when no one would care because no one remembered. She was strong now, she got over it. She didn't need anyone so she didn't talk to her, not even small talks. It took her months to recover to be determined to do whatever it took to rule the city. Her city, her legacy. _

_ After the wolves submitted to her, she went to the witches. She was mostly afraid of the vampires. She knew that it was the faction her father led and that he was most comfortable with his vampire side. Back then Hope wasn’t a vampire yet. Of course, she had the blood and knew one day she would become a vampire but wasn’t comfortable with the thought yet so she avoided the vampires as long as she could. _

_ The witches were tough. They knew Hope was a powerful witch, they sensed she was more than just a witch. She tried to be convincing, tried the heartfelt speeches, then harsh and then threatening speeches. She didn’t tell them who she was. She told them that she has powerful magic and she belonged to them, that she was born here, in the French Quarter. She told them that if the coven submits to her she will lead them to a better future. Then she set her rules. She allowed the witches to use magic, to harvest magic from earth, to practice ancestral magic. No hexes or harmful murderous dark magic was allowed. Hope said that they needed to protect their own, meaning the whole city. No matter of species, they lived together for centuries, they needed to stop killing each other. She promised to take care of the vampires and wolves as well if they would follow her rules. Hope tried to be peaceful about it but then she was attacked by dark magic, almost died if Abigail wasn’t there to help her. Hope then went to the witches using powerful magic to immobilize whomever tried to stop her and tore their leader’s heart out in an instant. They knew she was powerful but to stop and immobilize a whole coven and kill the coven leader without a blink was terrifying. The witches feared her now and they accepted Hope as their coven leader and as the years passed, they learned that she was right. They were practicing in peace and they had no disturbance from the other supernaturals. _

_ Hope was pretty torn after her kill but didn’t show anyone her struggles, she learned to live with it, like with everything that happened to her. She couldn’t give up when she came so far. She would make her parents proud. That was the only thing mattered to her. _

_ Then came the vampires. Their leader`s name was Viktor, a 600 years old vampire who looked to be about 20 turned by none other than Niklaus Mikaelson. Klaus’s sire line was the only one at this point, it was broken by Davina Claire. Unfortunately, vampires who belonged to the other Mikaelson sibling’s sire line were long dead.  _

_ Hope went to see Viktor determined, not accepting no for an answer. She was a powerful witch. What could go wrong? So she set up her rules which were partially the same as for the witches, namely no murdering the other supernaturals in the city. Working together, living together as one. As for feedings, they can continue feeding on the tourists as long as they don’t kill them. Heal and compel them after they drank their blood. Viktor mocked her that she is a little girl demanding such things from a 600 years old vampire, when she was not even a vampire herself. He did not agree to her rules and threatened her that if she ever came back and demanded such things, he would kill her. Hope wasn’t afraid of him, in response she choked him with her magic saying she would be the one killing him if he violates her rules, then she left.  _

_ The following weeks two wolves were killed by vampires. Hope tracked down the vampire responsible and staked him in the heart. Then Viktor invited Hope to a vampire only party to his mansion to discuss what happened in the city. When Hope arrived, she was cornered by dozens of vampires. She tried to use her magic but it didn’t work. Viktor set up an antimagic blood fountain in his house. There was no use for magic. Hope was fighting the vampires, she took down many but couldn’t fight a 600 years old vampire. Viktor was so much stronger than Hope and she was tired. The last thing she remembered was Viktor’s hands on her head then. Snap.  _

_ She woke up in a dark and cold place. The only thing she could think of was the hunger, terrible hunger. She knew exactly what was happening to her, she prepared for it, knew this would happen one day, but she was only 19 years old. Was this really happening to her? She needed to find blood as soon as possible, she didn’t want to risk not getting it on time. She found herself in a basement, Viktor probably hid her there until they were going to dispose of her body. They didn’t know she was going to turn. She found the fountain in the basement and turned it off immediately. She could feel the magic in her. _

_ She was in the house of a vampire so she was sure there was some human blood. Then she saw not blood, but humans. Locked in the basement. Probably for a snack. Hope could smell them, hear their arteries throbbing. She didn’t want to, maybe if she could find some blood bags, but if there were humans she knew there was no way they lived on blood bags. She needed to feed, her only senses were working to find the source to get closer to the humans. She didn’t want to hurt them but the need was stronger. He was so close to her now. A man in his thirties maybe. She saw and sensed that he was scared. she must have looked awful, like a monster. Glowing yellow eyes, dark veins popping on her face and sharp fangs. He was scared and she was hungry. She sank her fangs into his neck. He didn’t make a sound, the only sound she heard was his heart pounding faster than it should. Then it was slowing down, barely noticeable when Hope stopped. The man was unconscious, but alive. She could still hear his heart beating. There were other humans in the basement, silent, not moving. She could only see the fear in their eyes. Compelled. They were compelled to just stay here until they come for their snack and that is exactly what Hope did. She felt awful, sick. She hated what she did. These people probably didn’t do anything to deserve it. She fed her blood to the unconscious man. Then she compelled the three people in the basement to run away then forget everything that happened to them. She would occupy the vampires. So she did. _

_ She attacked the vampires. Even if she was just a newbie vampire, her magic, werewolf strength and vampire speed could not compare to the dozens of vampires on site. Not even to Victor. He only killed them temporarily, not staking or burning them but threatening them that if they break any of her rules, she would make sure their death would be painful. As she was leaving, she told Viktor that her father was Niklaus Mikaelson and they can call her Hope Mikaelson. From that day the city knew exactly who she was. No one dared to cross her knowing she was the last remaining Mikaelson, a true tribrid. Hope let Viktor remain the leader of the vampires as long as he made sure the vampires were staying in line and reported back to Hope. Viktor turned out to be a loyal poppydog to Hope. Hope could compel any vampire just like an original, so they were no longer a threat. She could even sire vampires as her own sire line but she never did. She only had her 5 hybrids. They managed everything around Hope and kept an eye on the city for her. She knew they would never betray her because of the sire bond. This was the only way she could trust people. She never let anyone else close. She lived in the Mikaelson compound alone. Only the hybrids were allowed to enter. It was bound by magic.  _

Hope arrived at the bayou. She got out of the car and started to walk towards Abigail’s house. She was nervous, hadn’t been around in years. She felt even sick, she felt like throwing up. Her head was pounding, she was sweating. No, she couldn’t be here. She will ask a hybrid to come by, what a stupid idea was to come here. She headed back to her car. As she turned around, she could hear Abigail’s voice.

“Leaving already?”

Hope turned to face her. Eyes cold as always. “Heard about the missing people” said in a monotone voice.

“Come on in sweetheart, let's talk about it”

Hope walked by the water where Abigail lived, she lived in a small cabin. Warm and inviting. Smelled of freshly baked goods and something so familiar and sweet to Hope. Abigail offered her some warm cookies and coffee. They were sitting in the small living room, Hope nervously looking around in the house while poking on a cookie trying so hard to maintain her anxiety.

“No one else is here” Abigail said, reassuring.

Hope felt more content with her words then started to speak ignoring her anxiety.

“Abigail, please tell me about the missing people.”

“First it was Neil, he is 17, a good kid but a troublemaker. His mother is dead, father is a alcoholic since then. He gets in trouble at school a lot. Fighting, stealing, these kinds of things. He triggered his curse when he was only 14. His mother was a human, he begged her to drive her car. She was teaching him on a quiet road. A big truck scared him, drove them into a tree.”

“Ever got into police trouble?” – Hope asked, not showing any emotions on the boy’s sad story.

“He stole from a gas station store once. it was reported, but smoothed out.”

“Who was next?”

“Another boy, Bryan. 26. Gone missing two weeks ago. He is a good one. No trouble. He’s from a good family. they live up here.”

“How did he trigger his curse?”

“Never did”

“Any police business?”

“No, he was a clean slate. He was working at a construction site in the city.”

“Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Anyone close to him who’s not family?

“He has a girlfriend. Human from the city, named Amy Arnold.”

“Arnold? hmm...” Hope recognized the name as one of the newest police officers in the city. Amy might be his daughter or some kind of relative.

“You know her?”

“No.” She whispered, still thinking. After a moment of silence, she carried on knowing she had to share some information with Abigail now, concerning the pack, but she decided she would deal with officer Arnold in private. “Alex told me what happened with the girl yesterday. I will go by the police station, check the boy Neil's report and the accident with Laura. Might have a theory.”

“Do you think they could be alive, no bodies found. The families are hopeful.” – Abigail asked desperately.

“I think it’s a human hunter. They go for the kill so if you ask me, they are long gone. You should tell the families to not hold on to false hope.” Hope answered in her usual tone as she noticed the young girl standing in the front door afraid to disturb them.

Abigail smiles at the sight of the girl. “Hi sweetheart. How was school today?” The girl went to Abigail, gave her a hug and shyly responded to her. “Hi mom.”

The girl looked at Hope and said hello in a barely audible voice. As Hope was looking at the girl, she stared for a moment at her dark curly long hair, piercing blue eyes and a silver bracelet on her wrist before she stormed out of the cabin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Landon will come in the third chapter, so still no Landon in this, but soon.

Hope was sitting in her car, in front of the police station. She maintained her anxiety since the cabin but couldn’t shut her mind off. She was sad and torn then angry. Angry at the fucking police officer. He kidnapped and most likely killed people of her pack. He was right there in the Bayou, he could have touched her, the girl... she thought about her. The girl with dark curls. “Stop it! Focus” She argued with herself. She knew why she went to the Bayou herself; she could have sent Alex. She would know the same information. But she had to know, she had to see that she was alright. She couldn’t stop thinking about her. The girl was startled, she looked even scared. She might have heard their conversation when she told Abigail that the missing people must be dead. The girl must have known them, maybe they were even friends. She scared her… she knew. The girl had a simple life, growing up with the pack. She had a loving mother in Abigail and Hope made sure they are never in any need.

Deep in her thoughts she noticed the front door opening at the police station. Jonathan Arnold. He was a tall muscular man in his fifties. He was getting in his car and driving away. She followed him. Arnold stopped at a small townhouse just outside the city.

Before getting out of her car, Hope took off her leather jacket, took out her hair tie and let her long auburn hair loose on her shoulders then wiped off some of her make up trying to look as girlish and innocent as she could.

As he was opening his front door, Hope stopped him, faking a nervous breakdown.

“Excuse me Officer. I’m so glad I found you, a scary man is following me and I don’t know what to do.” She even managed to drop some tears.

Arnold didn’t know what to do with the girl breaking down on his front porch so he did the dumbest thing he could do and invited her in.

“Come on in sweetheart, tell me what he looks like.” Hope`s famous smirk appeared on the corner of her lips as he navigated her in his kitchen offering her some water.

She looked around in the house. Nothing homey about it. The dirty dishes in the kitchen sink showed he lived here alone. She could see one family picture on the wall with a younger Arnold, a woman of his age and a little girl, looked to be around 10 on the picture, but the picture clearly was at least a decade old. As she was looking at the picture, Arnold followed her eyes.

“Your daughter? Let me guess. Amy?” Hope spoke without a slightest care in the world. Her breakdown magically disappeared. Arnold looked uneasy at the sight.

“Yes. Do you know her? She is in college, studies business. Really smart girl, like her mother.” The officer muttered nervously.

“I know her boyfriend. Bryan is it? How is he?” Hope asked him with a smirk and a cold stare.

Arnold looked away at his name. He was looking at something in the kitchen counter. Hope could see her cover was blown but she didn't care. She only needed to get in his house to interrogate him. Yes, that's what she was going to do. Interrogate, ask him about the missing wolves…but she got angry at the thought. So angry that she wanted to tear off his head right at that moment. Arnold looked at her noticing her glowing yellow eyes.

“You are one of them. Should have known. Don’t think you can scare me, I have dealt with your kind before.” The officer said smugly but his voice trembled.

“I highly doubt that” Hope growled at him. “What have you done with them? Neil, Bryan, Laura? Where are they?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be there with them soon enough”. Arnold ran to the counters and took a crossbow out of it, aiming at Hope now.

“You know I did let you get that; I was curious what was your plan” Arnold didn’t even care about what she had to say, he was so sure he had the upper hand now that he was holding the weapon.

“Your kind made a mistake sending a little girl like you here to fight. I’ve been hunting werewolves for more than 10 years. Killed more than you know. One full moon my wife was walking home from work and was attacked by your kind. She was torn to pieces, barely recognizable. You’re disgusting rabid creatures. No one believed me saying it was a werewolf so I took it upon myself. It took me years but I was smarter than the stupid dogs and finally killed them. The whole pack. Then I heard rumors that there are more here in New Orleans. I thought I would do mankind a favor and get rid of you here as well. We moved here with my daughter last year. I didn’t hear anything for a while then this teenage kid made so much trouble I was wondering, he fit the usual criteria so I kidnapped him and tortured him until he gave up. Told me where your kind usually gathers. Then I killed him. Later I found out my own daughter is dating one who lives at the Bayou. Though the boy didn’t hit all the criteria I still got the information out of him. Thank God I did, he was one too so I killed him, my little girl will not mix with rabid animals. So I went there at full moon. I know now what to expect, I am not afraid of the wolves, my weapons are made just for you. I saw the girl, the one who was at the station a few days back, killed a lady with her car. She was struggling, the other wolves already turned so I shot her.” He was laughing satisfied.

“So you killed her too.” Hope flashed her eyes getting closer to attack.

In response Arnold shot his arrow right at Hope’s abdomen. Hope was so furious that she didn’t catch the arrow in time and it went right through her. She screamed at him in pain.

“Stung isn’t it? Wolfsbane.” He mocked her. Hope ripped out the arrow and tossed it on the floor, blood dripping on her stomach. She didn’t care about the pain, she headed right to Arnold to tear his head off. The officer tried to shoot another arrow but with her magic snap Hope destroyed the bow and arrow to dust. She vamp sped to the man, with glowing eyes, dark veins on face and sharp fangs out.

“What are you?” The officer asked shaking

“I told you that you haven’t dealt with my kind before” Then she grabbed the man, ready to kill him.

“Wait wait!” Arnold bagged her. “The girl, she’s alive”

“Where is she?” Hope furiously asked him.

“I can take you there! Don’t kill me please.” Pleading to her pathetically.

“Tell me now or I kill you right now.”

“She is in an abandoned warehouse, here is the address” The man showed her a card with trembling hands. With that, Hope turned to him, gave him a huge smirk then sank her fangs into his neck, ripping his head off as she finished feeding on him.

She felt satisfied. Hope called her hybrids to clean up the mess she made in the officer’s home, and then she cleaned herself and drove to the warehouse.

As she entered the deserted place, she could already hear a faint heartbeat. She sped to the girl, found her tied up and bleeding. Hope got closer to Laura. She was still conscious but badly wounded. “You’re not healing” Hope said it out loud as she untied her. “Wolfsbane” She whispered in pain. Hope bit her own wrist until she was bleeding. “Here, drink this” She offered. She drank the tribrid’s blood and all her injuries were healed in seconds.

“Don’t go die on me now, you don’t want to be a hybrid” Hope tried to lighten the mood as she helped the girl to stand up. Laura gave her a shy smile.

“Are you okay?” Hope asked, even she was surprised at the care in her voice.

“Yeah, I just really want to go home now” The girl answered.

Hope drove her to the Bayou. The drive was quiet. Hope needed to regain her strength. Why would she even care for this one girl. Then her thoughts went to another girl. Younger than the one sitting next to her. She couldn’t live with herself if anything happened to the girl with the dark curls.

It was late night now, when Laura and Hope arrived to the Bayou. Hope knocked on Abigail’s door. She wanted to tell her what happened to Laura and the boys.

“Oh my God! Are you alright?” Abigail hugged Laura as soon as she opened her front door. The girl nodded.

“You should call her parents” Hope suggested to Abigail.

“I will take her to them, they don’t live far. Did you find Neil and Bryan?” Hope just gave Abigail a look and a slight “no” to get her understand what happened. Abigail nodded sadly.

“Can you wait for me here, I’ll be back soon. There’s some dinner on the stove, you can help yourself if you are hungry.” With that Abigail and Laura left the cabin.

Hope felt a little uneasy but not anxious this time. She walked to the kitchen. She could smell the roast chicken and her stomach growled. “I just suck a human dry” she thought to herself. But this was a different kind of hunger. The warm home cooked meal overwhelmed all her senses. Memories of her mother came of a happier time. She was smiling as she got a plate and grabbed some food for herself.

She was eating in silence when she noticed the shadow in the kitchen door and heard the rapid heartbeat behind it.

“You know I can hear you there” Hope regained her cold heartless bitch tone.

She hesitated in the doorstep for a moment then she entered the kitchen. The girl with the dark curls. She wore pajamas, she was barefoot but the silver bracelet still on her wrist. She walked towards the sink quietly.

“I was just grabbing some water” shyly said as she picked up a cup from the sink and got herself some water. Hope was staring in silence, not taking off her eyes from the girl.

She didn’t look up. Not once, stared at the floor than at the cup. She looked everywhere but at Hope. She was leaving the kitchen when she turned back, looking right into Hope’s identical blue eyes to her own.

“Did you find them? Did they really all die?” She asked Hope, breaking the silence.

“They… “ Hope was about to answer her as it was just all business, but then she saw the sadness in the girl’s eyes. She was young, just a child. She was 14 years old, she will be 15 soon. Then she thought of herself at that age. What she lost and what she had to go through. She could handle the truth, she had to. She never wanted the life she had for the girl, but she still lived in the supernatural community, even though Hope made sure New Orleans was the safest place for the supernatural, bad things still happened. 

“Laura is ok, your mother just took her home to her family.” Hope answered her and saw a sweet smile on the girl’s face.

“I am afraid Neil and Bryan are gone” She said with more compassion in her voice than she used to.

“What happened?” She asked with worry in her voice.

“Wolf hunter. There was just one, I took care of it, you don’t need to worry, he won’t come back “ Hope tried to reassure her.

The girl nodded and was about to leave the kitchen when she asked Hope. “Did you kill him?”

Hope was startled first, not sure how to answer that. The girl knew that she was Hope Mikaelson. Every supernatural in the city knew and they feared her, everyone knew what she was capable of, surely the girl heard rumors too. But she somehow didn’t want the girl to think of Hope that way. She wasn’t even sure how the girl thought of her, what her mother told her. She just didn’t want her to see the monster that everyone saw in her. She hesitated with her answer then decided that there was no right answer and she wasn't going to lie so just said. “Yes”

The girl didn’t ask anymore. She looked into Hope’s eyes again. Hope couldn’t read it, her heartbeat was steady, there was nothing she could pick up on how she felt about it, about her. Then she smiled at Hope and said goodnight to her as she left the kitchen.

“Goodnight” Hope said to no one as the girl was long gone now.

Abigail came back from Laura’s shortly after that. She and Hope discussed what happened with the hunter. When Hope left the cabin, it was about 2am in the morning.

She drove to the Mikaelson compound, still couldn’t stop thinking about the girl. The girl with the dark curls. She couldn’t stop thinking about her, then her thoughts were on him. Those dark curls, just like his, just like the girl’s father, Landon Kirby.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little different, because Hope will interact with different people.  
> Landon will appear in this chapter, he and Hope are meeting for the first time in 15 years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who read the story so far. I'm really sorry for all the mistakes, I did the best I can do with English as it is not my native language.

Hope woke up the next day late in the afternoon. She dreamt about him again, about Landon. She dreamt about the girl too. What could have been if she didn’t jump, if Malivore didn’t take everything from her. It had been so long but she thought about him all the time. The one and only time she was in love. She swore to never feel that way again. She never did. She had flings and one night stands, mostly with humans. She visited local human bars and clubs where the supernaturals of the city were not allowed by her own rules. So she went there sometimes. That was her plan for the night too.

When she lazily got out of her bed it was already 5 in the afternoon. She didn’t want to do any productive work that day. She was still mentally exhausted from events of the past days. She got into the shower, the warm water on her body felt so calming like she never wanted to leave. When she finally decided to shut the water off an hour passed by. She put on a baggy shirt and a comfy short and headed to the kitchen. Grabbed a blood bag then settled in the living room couch with a book. She was reading for hours. When she put down her book it was already 10pm so she decided to get dressed and visit one of the local’s clubs. She put on a simple skin tight black dress with mid thigh length. She let her hair in loose curls and applied her makeup to look older than she actually looked. Hope grabbed a pair of high heels and a matching purse and headed to the club.

It was one she had been before, she was not a regular but visited it sometimes. There was a long line at the entrance. Hope was definitely not going to get into that line. She went in front and made eye contact with the bouncer.

“You are going to let me in and my age does not concern you”

With that Hope entered the club. It was loud but thankfully not too crowded. Hope headed to the bar to order herself a drink.

“Let me guess! Cosmopolitan! It’s my secret talent, I know your order before you do” The bartender smiled at Hope. He was quite tall, messy brown hair, dark brown eyes. Not the best looking guy in the club but he was ok. He looked to be about 25.

Hope shot him a rigid look. “Bourbon. Clean.”

“I was way off then” He was laughing “Coming right up” Hope still looked like she was going to murder someone. Come on, loosen up. She thought to herself.

After she gulped down her whisky she smirked at the bartender.

“You know what? I will try your famous Cosmo.”

“I told you, it’s my secret talent. Maybe you don’t even know yet, but I know what you want”

“Is that so?” Hope laughed genuinely.

“I’m James by the way” The bartender introduced himself.

“And I am Daniel, what can I get for the beautiful lady sitting all by herself at the bar?” A handsome young guy came up to Hope. He was in his early twenties, dirty blond hair, hazel eyes. He was a little drunk, but Hope didn’t really mind.

Hope smiled at James then at Daniel. “Thank you, I have a drink already.” Showed him the Cosmo she just got from the bartender.

“The next one is on me. May I take the beautiful lady for a dance?” Daniel stumbled as he held out his hand towards Hope.

“Why not?” Hope chuckled at the clumsy drunk guy and his forced proper lines.

They were dancing for a while, Hope finally got loose a little. She was not proud of what she was doing but she came to the club for one purpose. She was a grown woman and she had needs and she needed to get that building pressure out of her system from time to time. She never wanted anything serious. This Daniel guy seemed just fine for that. The dance got heated between them, they were grinding their bodies together. He kissed her. It was sloppy, tasted like alcohol but she was pretty tipsy at this point to care.

“You wanna get out of here?” Hope suggested with a seductive smirk.

“Sure… just gimme a..” Daniel looked pale and uneasy then he took off running towards the bathroom.

Hope got out of the club to get some air and sat on the curb. “Just my luck”. So gross, these humans can’t even hold their liquor. Hope was getting up, to head home. She didn’t want to do anything with Daniel now and honestly didn’t even care if he was ok or not.

“Your boyfriend threw up in the men’s room. It’s bad. Thank god my shift is over, wouldn’t want to clean that up.” James startled her.

“Not my boyfriend and not my fault he can’t hold his liquor.” Hope frowned at him.

“You looked cozy on the dance floor” He said as he was getting closer to where Hope was standing.

“Didn’t you have like a job to do instead of looking at us?”

“I was only looking at you” He was touching Hope’s arms lightly.

Hope wasn’t mad about it. She didn’t want to think about these things too long so she just went for it. “Smooth” grabbed his face and kissed him hard and hungry. He kissed her back fiercely.

They were making out in front of the club like two horny teenagers. He was grabbing her ass with one hand and holding her back with another. Hope broke the kiss.

“Your place?” She suggested.

“ It’s close, two blocks away but I have roommates if you don’t mind”

“You have your own room. Right?” Hope said, almost annoyed.

James nodded then they walked a couple of blocks to his apartment. He opened the door for her to step inside. Hope didn’t enter and James looked at her confused.

“May I come inside?” Hope asked since she needed the verbal confirmation.

“Sure, come in.” The guy still looked at her confused since it was pretty obvious why she was there.

Hope entered the apartment. She immediately picked up two heartbeats in the apartment, both steady, probably sleeping. James closed the front door after them, and pinned her to the door as he was kissing and touching her. Hope felt a familiar scent that bothered her senses greatly. She didn’t want the distraction now so she broke away to speak.

“Can we continue this in your room?”

He took her hand and led her to his room. Luckily the scent was so faint there that Hope could concentrate on the reason why she was there in the first place. To release the uncomfortable pressure building in her for weeks.

Hope woke up early in the morning the next day. She was naked and felt an arm around her waist. She pushed him off herself, she was not gentle about it at all.

“Good morning.” James greeted her in a tired voice.

“Hey” Hope said plainly as she got out of the bed and started to get dressed.

“Leaving already? We should pick up where we were last night. I assure you won’t regret a good morning sex.”

“Because you know what I need? Your secret talent huh?”

“Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure I gave you at least three orgasms last night.”

“So cocky. All credit goes to Mr. James the bartender.” Hope rolled her eyes at him.

He got out of bed fully naked and put his arms around Hope’s waist as he held her tight.

“Come on baby you didn’t even tell me your name” Hope pushed him away firmly.

“Why do you need to know my name? It’s not like you were going to call me.”

“Hey why are you so negative? We spent a great night together. Maybe we could repeat it some time. And hey no strings attached… clearly it’s your thing.” James handed a paper to her with his number. Hope rolled her eyes again but took the paper.

“Fine, it’s Hope.”

“Well nice to meet you Hope. Care to join me for breakfast?” Hope was hungry since she didn’t eat any human food the day before, only had a blood bag so she was actually considering his offer.

“You cooking?” She asked

“We have some eggs, I’m sure my roommates are already up. They are better at cooking than me.” He explained as he put his pants on and a shirt from his closet.

“I need to meet the roommates? No thanks I will grab something to eat on the way home.”

“I don’t think you can avoid them, sorry.” James led the way out of his room as Hope sighed at the unwanted meeting with more people.

The first thing Hope noticed was the same scent she sensed the night before. So familiar and sweet. Something she needed something she was missing. Then she saw the source, she saw him.

“Good morning” James greeted his roommates. They were in the small kitchen area preparing breakfast. Hope and James were standing in the living room which was in one space with the kitchen. He was making eggs as she grabbed his arm and pressed a kiss on his cheek. She was pretty. A brunette with blue eyes and curvy body. She was tall though, about the same height as him.

“Good morning.” They said in sync.

“Do we have a guest for breakfast?” She asked curiously

“Yeah, this is Hope. Could you please make two more plates for us? Oh Hope, this is Claire, my sister and Landon her boyfriend.”

She froze. Didn’t know what to say, couldn't even think. Just stood there in the living room like a mute statue. Claire walked over to her and held her hand out to her.

“Nice to meet you Hope” She was still in shock but managed to react with a fake smile.

“Nice to meet you too” Hope shook her hand then made the mistake to look at him. He was staring at her too.

He looked the same and so different at the same time. He wore jeans and some superhero shirt. She smiled just a little at that. He was the same age, he didn’t age at all. Not 15 years for sure. Though he had grown facial hair which made him look older, he looked to be twenty or so with his dark beard. They had a theory that he won’t age anymore after his first death occurred, he was supposed to be immortal but they couldn’t know for sure. No one knew much about Phoenixes. God he was so handsome.

She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Now she felt embarrassed that she was staring. Stop it Hope! She scolded herself. She was about to leave. No way she would survive a meal with Landon and his perfect girlfriend.

“Breakfast is ready” Landon said and when she heard his deep soothing voice she loved so much once, her knees started to tremble.

“Are you okay?” James asked her.

Oh no, they started to notice. What was she doing? She couldn’t be this weak. She needed to put back on her amour. She was strong, she was a Mikaelson. She could do this.

“Sure” She smiled at James. “Smells awesome”.

“Just eggs, nothing special.” Landon added as he walked toward Hope.

“Nice to meet you” He smiled at her and held his hand out to her. Hope was looking for any recognition in his eyes but found nothing.

“Nice to meet you too, Landon.” She tried to maintain her smile but just couldn't, her voice trembled, her eyes were burning. She took his hand and felt a bolt of electricity through her whole body. She gasped, barely audible but Landon’s eyes were on her. She took her hand back and faked a smile.

“Let’s eat”

The small group was sitting around the table. Hope felt slightly better now, she gathered all the strength she needed. How could he still affect her after all these years. He was clearly perfectly fine without her in his life.

“So since when are you two together?” Landon asked James and Hope casually.

Hope almost choked on her eggs at the question, she looked at James for something to say.

“We are still getting to know each other.” said James as Claire chuckled at his answer, the situation was so obvious.

“Are you in college Hope?” Claire asked to change the subject of their conversation.

“Ahm no” She answered vaguely.

“God please say you are not in High School.” Claire responded. James looked terrified at the thought.

“No, no!” Hope reassured everyone quickly. “I’m in family business.”

“Are you guys in college?” Hope asked quickly to distract the conversation from herself.

“Yeah, Lan and I. We both are History majors, that’s how we met.” She giggled “My big bro works at a club I am sure you are aware.”

Hope smiled and nodded. Landon was in school? Why? Since when did he care about history? Maybe he was there to meet pretty college girls. But who was she to judge him. She really wanted to know more about him, what had he done in the past years? What happened to Josie? Clearly they didn’t last or maybe the Merge was the reason. Hope never dared to find out what happened to the twins. She loved them both. The knowledge that one of them died would hurt. It was best not knowing who was the one left standing, it was not like they remembered their friendship. She didn’t want to find out, not this, not Landon’s story. They won’t ever talk about their lives. He was never going to remember. She was probably more scared of the thought of him remembering. What would he say? He would be mad at her that she left. He would be furious if he would find out about the girl. He would hate Hope. It was better to not remember, she did not worth anyone’s thoughts. Landon looked happy, she was right to leave. This was how it was supposed to be.

“Are you all locals?” Hope asked them but clearly she knew that Landon was not from New Orleans. She was curious why was he here, why was he in a NOLA college? Then her thoughts were on the witches. They should report every new supernatural arrival to the city. The hybrids were investigating all the new arrivals, Hope only dealt with the problematic ones. Why did no one inform her about Landon? Although the witches and no one really knew that a Phoenix was in existence. She would have to discuss this with the witches and with the hybrids later.

“Yes, we grew up here with Claire, never really left the city” James added.

Hope nodded. “What about you Landon.” She just wanted to hear him talk, to hear his voice. Just once more than she would leave and never come back here.

“I only moved her a year ago for college, I’m from Virginia, but moved around a lot. What about you? New Orleans family business? You must be from around here” He said smiling at Hope.

“Yes, born and raised” She smiled back at him. She could be lost in his beautiful greenish grey eyes. She needed to stop staring. She needed to get up and get the hell out of here. So she glanced at him one last time before she stood up from the table.

“Thank you for breakfast, I need to go now.” She left the table to grab her purse. James followed her to the front door.

“See you later then, you know my number.” and James leaned in for a goodbye kiss. Hope quickly stepped aside and said goodbye to everyone inside then left the apartment as fast as she could. She ran down to the streets and started walking back to the club where she left her car.

Worst hookup ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will focus more on the girl and Hope's relationship.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will focus on the the girl, who she is to Hope and how she came to be.

Hope was lying in her bed back in the compound. She was lying in there for the past week thinking over every little detail about Landon, his life in NOLA, his girlfriend. She didn’t feel like getting up at all. She didn’t feel like doing anything at all. She had to get up today though, it was the day for the monthly meeting with the faction leaders but Hope was not having it. She had to get it together, she cannot look weak in front of them.

She didn’t ask the witches about Landon, she didn’t want any attention on him. It could backfire on him and she didn’t want Landon in any harm’s way. She asked the hybrids though, but they didn’t know anything. Never heard of any other kind of supernatural in the city, only the ones belonged to the three main factions. Hope thought he might have slipped through the magical system. It’s not like the witches were expecting anything other than vampires, werewolves or witches. The only 5 hybrids in existence were here in New Orleans as well as the only known tribrid.

It was early in the morning, the meeting was not until the afternoon but Hope finally got out of her bed and took a long needed shower then headed to the kitchen to get some blood and food. When she finished she went by her art room and started to paint. She was in her own world, when someone knocked on the art room’s door.

“Excuse me Hope, there’s someone here to see you.” Alex appeared in the door frame.

“Then tell them I’m busy and don’t you dare to disturb me again.” Hope lashed out on him.

“I tried. She has been coming back every day in the past week. She is determined.” The hybrid replied with concern.

“Who is she and what does she want with me?”

“It’s Abigail Miller’s kid. She doesn’t say why she’s here.”

Hope sighed, still annoyed with Alex. “Fine, escort her to the courtyard then leave. I’ll be there in a sec.” Alex nodded, turned around and left the door.

Why was she here? She never came here before. Was this still about the kidnapping? If there was anything wrong surely Abigail would have let her know. Alex said she was coming here for days. It must be personal. Hope dreaded this day, but somehow always knew it would come. She got up from her stool, headed to the nearby bathroom and washed her paint stained hands. She didn’t bother to change her stained clothes. She looked at herself in the mirror. Hair in a messy bun, piercing blue eyes with something unfamiliar in them. Fear? “What are you so afraid of? She is just a kid.” scolded her reflection. She splashed some cold water in her face and went to the courtyard with forced confidence.

The girl was sitting on a sofa fidgeting with her bracelet nervously. She was looking around, taking in the sight. She noticed Hope staring.

“Nice mansion. You live here alone?” She asked, trying to be dull about it.

“Yep. What do I owe the pleasure?” Hope answered, maintaining the same tone she used.

She stood up, still fidgeting then clicked her bracelet and the chain fell to the ground.

“Put that back on!” Hope scolded her.

“You know I’m not stupid. I know who you are. I know who I am.”

“I never thought you were stupid, kid. Now get that bracelet and put it back on your wrist.”

“It’s fine I can control it.” The girl rolled her eyes at her.

“I highly doubt the wolves would teach you how to control magic.” Hope was looking into her eyes sternly.

“You teach me then.” She was staring right back at Hope.

“Huh sure. I don’t have better things to do than teaching a kid how to use magic.” She laughed sarcastically.

“Then I’ll go to the witches. I’m sure they will be amused by a wolf who can do magic.” She had a huge smirk across her face.

“We just established that you are not stupid.” Hope said annoyed.

“Then teach me. I know I have this huge amount of power. I can feel it every time I take off that stupid bracelet. I need to know how to use it and you are the only one who can help. You are the only one like me.” She said, almost pleading.

Hope closed her eyes just for a second and took a deep breath. When she opened them looked right into the girl’s bules. “You’re a stubborn one, kid.” Hope took another loud breath, then went on.

“Fine, come here tomorrow after you’re done with your school. I’ll give you access, you don’t need to deal with the hybrids.” The girl nodded with a satisfied grin.

Hope gathered some ingredients as the girl watched her. Then she held the girl’s hand and mumbled some spell.

“Done. You can enter the compound without any complications. Now go home kid, I have things to do.”

The girl grabbed her bracelet off the ground and put it back on her wrist and headed towards the front door. She looked back at Hope once more. “You know I have a name.” Then she left.

Of course she had a name. Hope knew her name very well, she gave it to her but she had a hard time thinking about things like her name and the fact that the girl with dark curls well that Scarlett was her daughter.

Hope headed to St. Anne’s Church where the meeting occurred. When she arrived Abigail, Viktor, Sadie the witch leader and Frank Ellis the Mayor of New Orleans were already there. Everyone greeted her, Hope nodded in response and sat down to the head of the table.

“Viktor, why don’t you start. What’s going on with the vampires?” Hope looked at him rushing to start the meeting.

“Everything is going well, although we could use more daylight rings.” Hope rolled her eyes, not even responding. He was always trying, but Hope didn’t want too many daywalkers in the city, it could make trouble with the humans.

“What about the clubs?” The vampires ran several clubs throughout the city for tourists. It was for feeding, but the clubs were very popular, the vampires always compelled their victims after the feeding that they had the time of their lives. No killing was allowed though.

“There was an incident, a human died. It was a boating accident the day after she visited the club. After feeding one of my guys healed her but the blood was still in her system. We are taking care of her, no worries.” It sometimes happened, there was nothing they could really do about it.

“Ok then, don’t want any troubles, I see what I can do about the rings. Sadie? What about you?” Hope asked the witch.

“The witches are peaceful. There’s no trouble on our side.” She said smiling.

“What about the boundary spell on the city? You are checking the supernatural entries right? Hope was trying to be subtle, not to draw any attention on the Phoenix.

“Of course, we report everything to your hybrids, there is nothing to worry about.” Sadie reassured her.

“I will check on the spell though. Expect me in the coming days.” Hope flashed her eyes at the witch, which made Sadie startled and confused.

“Well we had some troubling incidents with the two of you in the past month. I want to hear your solution Frank, to avoid such events in the future.” Hope looked at Abigail then at the Mayor expecting answers.

“We should do throughout checkups before hiring in the public sector” He said with a slightly shaky voice.

“Aren’t you doing that already?” Abigail asked him with anger.

“Yes, but…” He continued when Viktor intervened.

“Humans are unpredictable. Cannot be trusted. Some locals are even on vervain, compulsion is no use.” He said with hatred.

“Do you have a solution Viktor? We do need to live with them you know.” Hope said calmly.

“I…Maybe…” Viktor muttered.

“They need to hire more of our people in their sectors.” Abigail said, referring to the humans.

“Are you suggesting we should hire werewolves in the police?” Frank asked in disbelief.

“Yes, but not just in the police and not just the wolves. Vampires and witches too. We are all in this together. Right?” At the question ‘right’ Abigail looked at Hope.

“Hmm.” Hope was thinking for a moment. “ The three of you…” She pointed at Abigail, Viktor and Sadie. “select a few of your best people you think could do the job. Bring them by the next meeting, Frank and I will check on them. “ They all nodded in agreement. “Great, we are finished then.” Hope got up and walked out of the church door.

The next day Hope had an early morning meeting and training with her hybrids. They were reporting of a couple new witches arriving in town the night before. They said the witches didn’t seem to be trouble, probably just tourists, not interacting with the supernatural so far, but they were keeping an eye on them. If there was anything worth mentioning they would let Hope know. It happened a lot so Hope usually didn’t seem to be interested much.

She spent the rest of her day painting in the art room. She tried not to think about anything particular because she knew that her thoughts would end up on a particular Phoenix living in her city or on the girl who she would be seeing later that day so she put on some light jazz music and painted her feelings away. Hope was lost in her world when she startled by her stomach growling. She put down the paintbrush and headed to the kitchen to grab some food. She made herself a PB&J when she heard someone entering the courtyard. She went to check on it although she knew exactly who it was.

“Hi there. You want a sandwich?” Hope asked her, chewing on the PB&J.

“I thought you only drink blood.” The girl said.

“Are you kidding? I love food. So you want one or not?” She offered with a grin.

“Whatever” She shrugged. Hope led her to the kitchen where she made her a sandwich. They were eating in silence for a while.

“So, kid. What do you want to start with?” Hope asked in a neutral tone.

“I’m not a kid! And I don’t know, aren't you supposed to be the teacher?” She snapped.

Hope rolled her eyes at her. God she was a moody one, Hope thought. She wanted to snap back at her but stopped herself thinking there was no way she was going to argue with a hormonal teenager. 

“So, Scarlett,” Hope emphasized her name. “Why don’t you follow me to the living room, let’s start with some simple spells there.” So Hope escorted Scarlett there.

They were sitting on the floor in the huge living room. The silver bracelet was carefully placed on the coffee table. Hope was showing her some easy spells. Scarlett took note of ingredients, correct spellings and pronunciations of the spells she even managed to do some by herself.

“Oh my God! Did you see that?” Scarlett screamed as she made an apple invisible for a few seconds.

Hope genuinely smiled at her. “Now try the same spell but concentrate on the timing. Make it invisible for a whole minute but not a second longer.” They were at it for a while trying to make this one spell work. It was all about control, starting with this simple spell. It was late in the afternoon and Scarlett seemed to be tired of the invisibility spell.

“Can we try something else now? Or can we make ourselves invisible? That sounds much more fun.”

“Definitely not. Don’t try this on living things, not until you are under control. Magic is dangerous, it's not about fun. Now go home, it’s late.”

“Can I come back tomorrow? It will be Saturday, there’s no school, I can come early.” She said enthusiastically.

It’s not like Hope had anything better to do the next day and she actually enjoyed herself with Scarlett.

“Why not. Come by whenever, I’ll be here.”

“OK, I’ll be here. Bye”

“See ya” They waved to each other as Scarlett left through the main entrance.

Hope smiled at herself, then felt awful all of a sudden. Guilt. But what was she guilty about? The fact that she was introducing her to magic or the guilt came from a much deeper place? She didn’t want to think about it, but it was all too late. She was spiraling in thoughts.

_Hope found out she was pregnant a couple months after she arrived to New Orleans. Actually Abigail found out. Hope took all the symptoms as stress related. She just went through a horrible experience. Her whole existence was wiped out from everyone’s memories._

_She was already talking to the wolves after she arrived, didn’t want to waste much time getting to know their Alpha. That’s how she met Abigail who luckily accepted her as the Labonair heir and they actually got along pretty well. One of those days when Hope felt really sick Abigail asked her if there was a chance she could be carrying a child. She denied it immediately. There was no way…or was there? She and Landon were intimate and mostly careful…mostly. She had the worst panic attack that day. Abigail was there for her from that day._

_She helped her with the pregnancy and kept it a secret. Hope could barely remember those times. It was all a blur. She woke with anxiety every morning and went to sleep with horrid nightmares. She could barely manage to get through the days. As the baby grew it got worse. Abigail had to force her to eat something every day so the baby would get some nutritions. When she thought about going back and telling Landon her anxiety and panic attacks got unbearable. She was terrified of Landon rejecting her, he couldn’t even remember getting her pregnant. She never felt so lonely in her life._

_Hope was a mess she knew she couldn’t be a mother but most importantly she didn’t want her child to have a life like she had. She wanted to keep the baby as far away from the Mikaelson legacy as possible. Hope was proud to be a Mikaelson, she loved her family but this name was a curse. No one ever ended up happy with this name. Even if they lived a 1000 years it was a miserable 1000 years. Hope was not an exception. She didn’t want this to her child, she wanted her to be happy. But how? When she was going to be born a tribrid like herself. She was going to be a firstborn Mikelson, which meant a tremendous amount of magic to deal with. She was surely going to have the werewolf and vampire blood from Hope as well and she had no idea what it meant to have a Phoenix as a father._

_The baby came a month early. Abigail helped her with the birth. It was excruciatingly painful. Hope didn’t have much strength because of her ongoing anxiety. She was in labor for a whole day before she could finally give birth to the baby. The baby was tiny and really skinny but Abigail assured Hope that with a lot of care and nutritions she will be strong and healthy. Hope could not give her that care, she couldn’t. She would ruin her._

_When the baby was born Abigail was in her late thirties. She was a widow. Her wife passed away a few years back because of cancer, they wanted a family but never got to that point and Abigail never thought she would ever have a chance to have a family. She talked about this to Hope, about her loss, hopeful that Hope would open up to her as well._

_After the baby was born, Hope bagged her to take her away. She didn’t want her, she didn’t want to ruin her. Abigail didn’t take the baby right away. She stayed with Hope and the baby for weeks. Hope didn’t care for the baby, didn’t even look at her. The baby was just a reminder of Landon and the thought sent her to her worst nightmares of a life without him and her panic started to creep in again. After a month Abigail gave up, she couldn’t watch Hope ignoring the fact that she just had a baby. She agreed to adopt the baby but made Hope choose a name for her. She named her Scarlett Hayley._

_No one questioned or was surprised in the pack that Abigail adopted a baby. So life went on for them. Abigail came to check on Hope from time to time but Hope became cold and heartless towards everyone, even Abigail. After a while Abigail stopped coming and Hope only cared about one thing, to rule over the city. With her focus only on New Orleans her panic and anxiety started to fade. There was a rumor that even Abigail questioned Hope once about her humanity being turned off. She never denied the fact, but Hope would never do that. She learned to live with her damage, like a true Mikaelson._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for everyone who read the story so far!  
> The next chapter might have a Handon moment in it as well as the continuation of Hope and the girl's relationship.


	5. Chapter 5

Hope couldn’t sleep that night. She was tossing and turning in bed unwanted images and thoughts invading her mind. She thought about Scarlett, how she turned out to be without her. She thought about Landon who was so close by. Landon for sure would hate her if he knew about Scarlett he would never forgive her, he would never understand what she was going through. The thoughts made her anxious. She was sweating, breathing heavy. She needed to calm down. She got out of bed to take a shower. The warm water always calmed her nerves. She stood under the water for a while feeling her pulse returning to its normal rate. She got out of the shower, dried herself then got dressed in her paint stained shirt and shorts. It was still the middle of the night, but she didn’t feel like going back to bed, she knew she would end up in the same state alone in the dark room. So she entered the art room, put on the light jazz music and lost in her work. This was the best way not to think, to let every unwanted emotion out through her paintings. It was her therapy.

She finished painting in the morning after the sunrise. She had a blood bag for breakfast. She still felt somewhat uneasy, she didn’t think she could keep any normal food down. Hope landed on the living room couch to watch some tv.

She woke up to a knock at the living room door. She didn’t know when she fell asleep, she had no idea what time it was. She looked at Scarlett, she was already inside the living room, she wondered how long she had been standing there before deciding to wake her with the knock.

“Hi. Sorry to wake you, didn’t think it was that early.” Scarlett muttered.

“Hey” Hope was greeting her in a tired voice. “What time is it?”

“Eleven.” She said.

“Sorry I fell asleep on Cutthroat Kitchen.” Hope yawned.

“I practiced all evening. I can do it. Wanna see?” She asked with excitement.

“Sure” Hope smiled.

Scarlett took her bracelet off and placed it on the coffee table then sat on the floor and started chanting. She did the spell perfectly. She was so proud of herself. It reminded Hope of herself when her Aunt Freya taught Hope the same spell. Hope was in her thoughts when she noticed Scarlett staring at her. She was waiting for Hope’s approval.

“Great job.” Hope smiled. Scarlett was still looking, Hope didn’t really know what else to say. Hope still felt a little edgy after the night she had but tried to maintain her cool. They were silent for minutes now. It started to feel uncomfortable. Hope could see the unease on the girl.

“You are always in dirty clothes.”

“What?” Hope didn’t know how to react to that.

“Your shirt.” Scarlett was pointing at Hope’s shirt.

“Amm. It’s paint.”

“Do you paint?” She asked her.

“Yes.” She replied plainly.

“Like actual paintings?” she seemed interested.

“Yeah.”

“Can I see them?” The girl asked with curiosity in her eyes.

“No.” Hope snapped at her.

It’s not like she didn’t want Scarlett to see her paintings. She never showed it to anyone. It was her private escape. Sharing them with anyone would be very personal to Hope. She didn’t want to hurt the girl, but she saw sadness in her eyes. She was trying to get to know Hope, she can feel that because deep down she wanted to know about her too. They never talked to each other before the past few days. Hope knew nothing about this girl. She should be the adult about this and apologize. It’s not Scarlett’s fault that she was having a shitty day. When she was about to apologize Scarlett started to speak.

“I’m sorry. That was very invasive of me.” She said not looking anywhere near Hope.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sorry too. Shouldn’t have snapped. “ Hope felt really bad about this now, so decided to share something with her. ”Hey, look” Hope was pointing above the fireplace. “I made that when I was fifteen.”

“Wow. You are really talented. I can’t draw a stick figure right and you painted actual people when you were fifteen?” She asked, amazed as she was walking towards the fireplace.

“Yeah, it’s my family.” She said as she stepped beside Scarlett in front of the fireplace. “That’s my dad.” Hope pointed at Klaus in the picture. “I basically got it from him. He was a great artist, there is plenty of his stuff around the house.”

“Your family looks awesome. I mean I heard stuff about them but I’m sure they were awesome.”

“Yeah they were.” Hope sighed and looked at the girl. “So what do you like to do?” Hope asked her as she was walking back to the couch to sit on it.

“Hmm I dunno… I like to read and I write sometimes” She answered shyly, and sat on the couch next to Hope.

“Yeah? What do you write?” Hope asked, genuinely interested looking at the girl next to her.

“Stuff… hmm…like fiction. I like science fiction.” She stuttered and Hope had a huge smile on her face.

“Are you a nerd?” Hope couldn’t contain her grin but tried not to laugh. She thought it was adorable. Scarlett’s face was red, she was embarrassed. Hope wanted to reassure her but Scarlett started to mumble again.

“I like other things too.. .like fighting and stuff, I train a lot with the wolves.” She tried to look tougher after the nerd thing slipped out. Hope still thought it was adorable.

“Yeah? You any good?” Hope asked her with a smile.

“I’d like to think so though I haven’t triggered the curse yet so I’m not that strong.” She shrugged.

“It’s nothing to look forward to, believe me.” Hope told her honestly.

“I know that but I’m pretty sure it’s inevitable. Especially due to my nature.” Scarlett looked into her eyes, biting her bottom lips.

“There are plenty born with the gene and never trigger their curse and your nature has nothing to do with it.” Hope said firmly, maintaining her eye contact.

“You really believe that?” Scarlett said in a sarcastic voice. “I’m like you, I'm pretty sure it’s inevitable.” She said bitterly looking away from Hope’s gaze.

“You are nothing like me Scarlett!” Hope said harshly.

Scarlett didn’t say anything to that. She was sitting on the couch in silence looking at the living room floor now. Hope felt the tension building in the room. It was hard to breathe. She couldn’t let herself give in to her anxiety now with the girl sitting right next to her. So she gathered herself, took a deep breath and turned to Scarlett, slightly touching her shoulder.

“Maybe I could teach you some fire spells today.” She said kindly

Scarlett smiled and nodded.

“But promise me you won’t practice this at home. Abigail will kill me if you burn down your house.” Hope added with a returned smile.

Hope led the girl to the courtyard. For safety reasons they didn’t do the spell inside. Scarlett took notes while Hope explained how the spell worked then when Hope thought she was ready she put a candle on the table. Hope lit the candle with magic then she put the flame out.

“Now you try” She told the girl.

“A candle? I thought we were gonna throw fireballs.” She said faking disappointment but Hope saw the excitement in her eyes.

“Believe me the candle is more difficult with your power than fireballs. So try not to burn down my table please.” Hope said it with a smirk. She was trying to teach her control.

They practiced for a while. They used like fifty candles, Scarlett accidentally destroyed them all but the table was barely harmed with a little scorch.

Hope began to notice that the girl’s attention was fleeing.

“We should take a break.” Hope suggested.

“Sure.” She sat down on the courtyard sofa checking her phone.

“Everything ok?” Hope asked her.

“Yeah, I should get going. My mom was wondering where I went.”

“You didn’t tell your mom?” Hope was questioning in disbelief.

“Umm. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” Scarlett shrugged.

“Next time please tell her.”

“So there will be a next time?” The girl smiled at her.

“If you tell your mother where you are.” Hope scolded her. “Now give me your phone, I’ll give you my number. Text me, we can make it work next week.”

“Awesome” She whispered and handed Hope her phone.

Hope put her number in the phone and gave it back to Scarlett. She was about to leave the compound.

“Wait! Your bracelet!” Hope shouted after her. “Wait here, I’ll get it for you.”

Hope ran back to the living room and took the bracelet from the coffee table. She walked back to Scarlett who was waiting for her at the main entrance.

“Here, don’t lose it.” Hope put it on Scarlett’s wrist.

“Mom said it was yours.” She said as she was looking at Hope unsure. “It’s hard to believe you ever needed something like this.”

“I was a kid once. Until you are not comfortable with your power you need to keep it on. You understand that right? I know it’s annoying, I know you feel more powerful when the magic is not suppressed but it can do more harm than good. I am sure you will be in control soon. You’re doing good.” Hope assured her.

“You know I don’t think it’s true what they say.” Scarlett added with a smile.

“What do they say?”

“That you have no humanity.” Scarlett still kept her smile.

“Oh yeah I heard that.” Hope smiled back at her.

“Bye Hope.”

“Bye” Hope remained at the main entrance for a while, couldn't seem to move her feet. It was strange hearing her name out of Scarlett’s mouth. She didn’t know what to feel but her. The anxiety passed altogether. She felt fine.

Later that evening she went to Rousseau’s. It was close to her home, she went there almost every night to drink and read. She liked the cozy feeling of the French Quarter bar. She knew everyone there. The staff were all supernatural and most of the regulars too. 

When she entered the bar she nodded to the staff and sat down to her table in the corner. She took her book out from her purse and started to read. The waiter was already at her table bringing her favorite whisky. She was in a good mood that evening. She wanted to smile at him but she had to keep up her image. So she just thanked him in a dry tone. She was way into her book when she felt the familiar scent. She knew who it was now so she didn’t bother to look up from the book but couldn’t concentrate on any word she was reading.

What the hell was he doing here? The bar was way out of his way, where he lived.

She could smell him, and it was getting stronger.

“Hey! You are Hope. Right?” He asked casually.

Hope had no choice but to look at him.

“Yeah. Landon. Hi.” Hope looked around the bar. “Are you alone in here?”

“Yes. Are you alone as well?” Landon asked with a smile. Hope nodded. “May I join you?” Hope didn’t react to his request. “I’m sorry. I let you get back to your book. It was nice to see a familiar face around here.”

“No. I’m sorry. Sure, sit down please.” Hope mumbled.

Landon sat down to Hope’s table. “I really am sorry, didn’t want to bother you.”

“Nonsense, I was bored of this book anyway. Do you like Bourbon?” Hope asked and waved to the waiter.

“Um sure.” Landon barely answered, the waiter was already at their table with two glasses. “Thank you” Landon thanked the waiter. “Wow, fast service.” he said amazed.

“What are you doing by yourself in this part of the town?” Hope was curious.

“I came here with a couple of friends. They have business around here. I was going to wait for them in the car but then I saw this place and thought I would rather wait while drinking something.”

“Hmm. What business?” She asked.

“What?” Landon looked surprised at the question.

“I mean, it’s late at night. What business do your friends have around here? I was just wondering.”

“I wouldn’t know. I was just accompanying them.” Landon frowned at her.

“I was just surprised to see you here. Sorry don’t take it the wrong way.” She really wanted to know what he was doing here, especially if he was not alone in the Quarter.

“So how are you? Are you and James still a thing?” He asked her, changing the subject.

“No, God no! We are not together.” Hope reassures him a little too determined for someone who barely knew her.

“Good.” Landon whispered.

“Hmm?” Hope wasn’t sure what he meant.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. James doesn’t have the best track record in relationships and you seemed like a nice girl.” He replied.

“Neither have I. It’s like I’m destined to be alone.” Hope laughed bitterly, already regretting her statement so she quickly asked him about his girlfriend although she didn’t really want to hear about her. “What about you and your girlfriend? How long have you two been together?”

“We have been together for about seven months. We get along really well.” He replied looking at his cup in his hand.

“She seems nice.” Hope responded vaguely. She really wanted to know more about Landon but his relationship was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

“Yeah, she’s great” Landon said as he was sipping on his drink. “And hey, I’m sure you have a ton of guys or girls interested in you, you have a special kind of vibe, you are a good person Hope, believe me I can feel these things. And you are gorgeous by the way.”

Hope was blushing, she felt butterflies in her stomach. She had no idea she could feel this way anymore, but the way he looked at her with his amazing eyes and beautiful smile made her feel so many emotions at once. Was he hitting on her? No, he wouldn’t he was just a genuinely nice person, he always was. But she was not, Hope was not a good person. Landon couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Thanks Landon for saying that.” She didn’t really know what else to say about it.

“So what are you doing in the French Quarter all alone in a bar?” Landon asked her, maintaining his smile.

“I live close by, I come here sometimes to have a drink and read. I like this place.” Hope answered with a shrug.

“It’s a cozy place. I can see why you like it. So you live here in the Quarter? It’s such a pretty part of the city, full of history.”

“I guess.” Hope said trying to find a way to get to know more about him. “Talking about history… that’s what you’re studying. Right?”

“Yes. You remembered huh?”

“What made you choose the subject?”

“Honestly… I had a teaching job. I taught history, well kind of. Among other things. Didn’t have a degree though. I loved the kids and teaching but I needed some change of scenery so I decided to get a degree and I always wanted to visit New Orleans.”

“A teacher?” She was shocked, would have never guessed that.

“Yes, I know what you are thinking. I look too young to be a teacher.” He said rolling his eyes, clearly people are usually questioning his age. Hope could relate.

“I guess you are older than you look? So what other things did you teach?” Hope was intrigued to find out more about him.

“Haha yes.” He looked kind of surprised that Hope didn’t really care for his age. “Music mostly. I’m not a pro but good with the strings.” He laughed kindly.

“Kids must love you. You have a good person vibe too.” Hope smiled at him.

“I’m ok with the little ones, I mostly taught elementary students. Terrified of teenagers though. The school I was teaching at had all ages.” He looked like he was genuinely excited to talk about this part of his life and Hope could listen to him talk for hours. Unfortunately his phone buzzed.

“My friends are finished their business, they are waiting for me in the car.”

“Don’t keep them waiting.” She said, although wished he would never leave.

Landon was taking his wallet out of his pocket and opened it to leave some cash on the table. Hope put her hand on his to stop him.

“Please don’t.” Hope didn’t really think about what she was doing she just wanted to stop him, as she never really paid in the bar but when she touched him she was stunned. Feeling his warm hand against her fingers was electrifying. She wondered if he felt the same. She held her hand there for a moment too long. She quickly put her hand on the table and felt her cheek blush. She looked at him, he was looking at her. They were staring into each other’s eyes in silence. It felt like time had stopped. Landon broke the gaze.

“Um. Bye. Thank you…for the drink. It was nice to see you.” He stuttered as he got up. Hope said her quick bye then he left the bar.

Hope was overwhelmed with buried feelings surfacing after their encounter. She was sitting at her table staring in front of herself for like an hour. She thought about his smile, about his eyes, his smell, his touch. She learned some things about him, he seemed like he had a good life. She thought about him as a teacher in the Salvatore School, she was pretty sure that’s what he was referring to. She smiled at the idea of him teaching little kids to play the guitar they must have really loved him, he was the sweetest person she had ever known. Then she thought about the idea of him being a father. She didn’t smile anymore. She felt the guilt creeping in.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We were in love. Like real love, epic love if that even exists

When Hope got home that night she stirred up some potion to help her sleep. She passed out on her living room couch. She woke up in the morning with a pounding headache. She knew it was the ill effect of the potion but at least she had a peaceful night. She took some painkillers, didn’t want to use magic or an other potion for the ache she knew it would make it worse in some other way. Human medication didn’t always help but it eased the symptoms. She headed upstairs to her bathroom to take a shower. After the shower she entered her bedroom and got in her bed. She didn’t really feel like she was ready to start the day. She startled at her phone buzzing. She didn’t want to get up but when she heard it buzz three times in a row, she got out of bed, grabbed her purse from the previous night and took her phone out to check on the texts.

‘Hi, I just wanted to thank you for yesterday.’

‘It’s Scarlett’

‘Can I come by tomorrow? I can be at your place around 3.’

Hope smiled at the texts. She was about to write back when her phone started to ring.

“What is it Alex?” Hope asked.

“I’m sorry to disturb you. Could you please come downstairs? There is some news from the witches that might interest you.”

“Meet me in the training room.” Hope threw her phone on the bed. She changed to training clothes and put her hair in a tight ponytail. She usually discussed city issues with the hybrids during fight training.

She made her way downstairs to the training room where Alex and another hybrid Brook were waiting for her. Hope signaled them to start fighting. Hope loved that she didn’t have to hold back her strength with the hybrids, they were almost a match for her. Her muscles craved this kind of attention. After a while they took a break and Hope looked at them to start talking.

“One of the voodoo shop owners had some concerns of a late night visit from two strange witches yesterday.” Alex said.

“They were looking for you, Hope.” Brook added.

“What do you mean?” Hope asked, paying close attention to the hybrids.

“Not namely. We don’t think they were sure who exactly they were looking for, but they went to the voodoo shop knowing that witches were the owners. They started to ask around about a powerful witch who rules the city.” Alex explained.

“Why would out of towners be looking for me?” Hope wondered.

“They didn’t say the reasons to the shop owners.” Brook said to Hope.

“I hope our witches didn’t elaborate. I have no intentions of sticking my business in out of town matters.”

“Of course, they didn’t say anything. They pretend to didn’t know what the witches were talking about.” Alex sighed before he went on. “They were determined about it. They were not violent but there were some harsh words.”

“Keep an eye on them, I don’t want to get involved in this. If they stir up some trouble or visit the voodoo shop again please let me know.” Hope instructed the both of them.

“Sure” they said in sync. “But there’s something else.” Alex added. “One of the shop owners picked up on something really strange about one of the witches. Her aura was different from a witch. She said it was shaded, weird and confusing. She said she only saw one witch with a vaguely similar aura in her life.”

“And who was that?” Hope asked.

“Umm…well…you.” Said Alex in an uncertain voice.

“Hmm… That’s unexpected. Gather every information on them and find out why they are in town. Now leave.”

When the hybrids left the compound, Hope took another shower after the training they had. Then she headed to the kitchen to have something to eat. She only grabbed an apple and a blood bag. Hope wasn’t sure what to think about the information she just acquired. She trusted the hybrids to find out whatever they can about the new arrivals. Hope felt tense about these witches but she was going to let the hybrids investigate for now. She wouldn’t intervene if there was no trouble. Hope spent all day painting, when it got dark, she decided to visit Rousseau's again.

She was getting ready in her bedroom. She put on comfy jeans and a black silky shirt exposing her cleavage. She usually wore a simple cotton shirt with leather jacket but she felt like putting in extra effort that day. She let her auburn hair loose on her shoulders and applied subtle makeup instead of the heavy makeup she usually used. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror. She was satisfied with her looks although she wasn’t sure why she cared that night. She put on her usual high heeled boots and grabbed a purse. She put a book and her phone in it when she remembered Scarlett’s text. She would reply to her when she settled in the bar.

In Roussou’s she set down at her table. The waiter brought her the whisky as usual. Hope ordered a sandwich to eat. She grabbed her phone and looked at the text Scarlett sent her.

‘Tomorrow sounds good. I’ll be expecting you around 3 then.’ Hope sent the text.

‘Great, can’t wait!’ She texted back almost immediately.

‘Did you tell your mother?’ Hope wrote back as she bit in her sandwich.

‘Sure’ Scarlett replied briefly.

‘Are you lying?’Hope sensed she wasn’t telling the truth. In a short amount of time they got to know each other Hope noticed that she’s a chatty one. She would elaborate on her mother’s response.

‘Yes😔’

‘I will tell her I promise.’ Scarlett texted immediately after the previous message.

‘Do you think she’ll be uncomfortable with the idea?’ Hope was wondering.

‘I don’t think so. She likes you.’ Scarlett responded.

‘Don’t exaggerate. No one likes me, they fear me😉’She texted as she finished eating her food.

‘Sounds lonely.’ That was all Scarlett replied.

Hope set in silence staring at her phone. She was lonely but she liked it that way. Right? She tried to write something back, but nothing seemed right. As she meditated over her phone, she felt him again. She looked at him this time. Landon was entering the bar. He smiled and waved at Hope. She smiled back. Landon walked to Hope.

“Two nights in a row? You must really like the French Quarter.” Hope asked him curiously.

“Yeah, I really do. And honestly, it’s a fascinating little bar. I just had to come back.” Landon answered with a radiant smile.

“Did you come here with your friends again?” Hope asked and gestured to him to sit down.

“No, just me. I wanted to enjoy the bar tonight without them interrupting me.” He told her as he settled on the chair.

“It’s just a bar. There’s nothing really fascinating about it.” Hope shrugged.

“Well, you are here.” Landon shrugged as well, and Hope’s face fell. “I mean there must be something intriguing about it if you are spending your nights here.” Landon corrected himself quickly. Hope was still kind of shocked she knew he wouldn’t hit on her, he had a girlfriend but still felt her face burn.

“Ahmm...yeah…” Hope muttered but luckily the waiter made his way to the table with two glasses of whisky and took Hope’s empty plate and glass away. Landon thanked him, it was enough time for Hope to regain her cool.

“Rousseau's gives more of a sentimental feeling to me. I spent half of my childhood here.” Hope explained.

“You spent your childhood here? In a bar? That just seems wrong” Landon chuckled.

“Yeah” Hope laughed. “My mom’s boyfriend used to work here, so we came here a lot.”

“Oh, I see. He doesn’t work here anymore?” Landon asked.

“No, it was a long time ago. I’m pretty sure he lives in Ireland now. Who knows?” Hope shrugged.

“I guess their relationship didn’t last then? It just sounded you were attached. I mean if you still visit the bar daily.” He looked genuinely interested.

“Umm… my mom died… then I guess he just forgot I existed.” Hope said plainly.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s ok Landon, it happened a long time ago.” Hope reassured him with a smile.

“Besides who could ever forget you.” Landon returned the smile.

Hope was looking at Landon but her smile died. It was awful to hear these words from him sitting across her. He was looking right into her eyes having no memory of their shared past. She felt bitter, even mad. Mad at him though she knew it wasn’t his fault. If anything it was hers.

“Story of my life.” She said bitterly. Landon looked startled on the sudden mood change. He was quiet, he probably didn’t want to make the situation worse. Hope tried to collect herself but just couldn’t with Landon there. She felt a burning sensation behind her eyes. She took a deep breath avoiding Landon’s gaze. It felt like the air wasn’t filling her lungs. The bar was full of people, full of the supernatural. They couldn’t see her like this, weak. She needed to calm down, couldn’t have a break down in the middle of the bar. She didn’t think she could hold it in much longer so she stood up and stormed out of the bar. She was walking in the cool evening trying to get home as fast as she could. He heard Landon calling her name. He ran after her. Hope stopped on the sidewalk under a bright streetlight and turned to him.

“Hey are you okay?” He asked with concern. Hope nodded.

“I am sorry if there was anything I said made you uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have asked about them.” Landon surely noticed she was about to cry.

“It’s fine Landon.” She was trying so hard to keep it together. “It’s not even about them really. I’m sorry about this.”

“Hey don’t apologize. It’s ok, we all have demons and you never know what triggers them.” He said in a gentle tone while putting his hand on her shoulder squeezing it lightly. Hope felt a tear run down on her cheek and a quiet sob escaped on the contact.

“Do you want to talk about what really is about or should I just stop and leave?” He asked sincerely.

Hope knew the smart choice would be to run. To get out of there now. But how could she? It was Landon and he was there and he was sweet and caring and everything she missed about him. It was Landon, the love of her life. She was closed off for so long. Didn’t talk about herself to anyone, she didn’t have any friends. Everyone who tried getting close to her, she pushed them away. But it was Landon and she was unable to push him away so she even surprised herself when she sat down on a street bench and began to talk about it the first time in fifteen years.

“It’s about a guy” She took a big breath then exhaled it slowly. “We were in love. Like real love, epic love if that even exists.” Hope had a sad smile and she felt another tear.

“What happened?” Landon looked in her teary eyes and sat next to her on the bench.

“He forgot about me. He forgot I exist. ” Hope chuckled but it was dry and sad.

“What do you mean? Like amnesia?” He asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, something like that.” She sighed and smiled at him sadly.

“So he didn’t want you anymore after his amnesia? He didn’t even try to get to know you again? He must be a real jerk then. Believe me Hope, it’s his loss and he isn't worth your tears.” He said with so much passion. Hope looked down on her fidgeting hands before looking at him again and explained what happened.

“It wasn’t really like that. Umm… After it happened, I went to see him, but I never made it to actually face him. I saw him with another girl. They looked so happy you know. I don’t think he was ever that happy with me… I’m not the best person to be around, never was. That other girl, she was really the kindest girl I ever knew. They deserved each other.”

“It’s just sad that you feel that way, you are an amazing person to be around.” Landon tried to comfort her. “You really never confronted him?” He asked her. Hope was shaking her head. “Then you know what you need to do Hope.” He smiled at her.

“Oh definitely not. I’m not going to tell him.” Hope shook her head frightened.

“Why not? What do you have to lose? Worst case scenario he doesn’t want you in his life which is exactly where you are now. But I highly doubt that would be the case.”

“Nah-ah, no way. He will hate me.”

“He wouldn’t hate you. He doesn’t even know you. Just tell him your story like you told me. I’m sure he will listen” Landon tried to reassure her.

“He would hate me if I’d tell him the whole story. It happened a long time ago and he has moved on with his life.”

“Even if he has moved on and he is with that girl I think he deserves to know about you, but of course it is your choice and I am not here to judge you in any way. Cannot even imagine how hard it had been for you.” Landon was looking down at Hope’s fidgeting hands in her lap. He grabbed them slightly and squeezed them. “Now do you want to tell me the whole story? Why do you think he would hate you?”

Hope felt peace at his touch. She wasn’t going to break after all. She smiled at him.

“There are some things I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about to anyone.”

“It’s ok. And hey, if you will be ready to talk about it or anything at all just text me or call me. I think both of us can use a new friend. And what are friends for? Now give me your phone.” He smiled and let Hope’s hands go to let her take the phone out of her purse. Hope unlocked her phone and gave it to Landon. He saved his number in it and called himself to save her number as well.

“Thank you for the talk Landon. I feel so much better.” She smiled at him and stood up. “I’m gonna walk home now.”

“Can I walk you home?” He asked as he got up from the bench as well.

“Oh I don’t live far”

“I wouldn’t feel right leaving you this late at night on the middle of the street.”

“Sure, if you insist.” Hope just smiled at his kindness.

Hope really lived close to the bar, she lived on the same street just a block away. They were barely walking a minute or two.

“This is me.” Hope said pointing at the main entrance facing the street.

“You weren’t kidding about living close by.” Landon chuckled.

“Good night Landon.” Hope smiled at him.

“Good night Hope.” They were staring and smiling at each other for a moment too long before Hope opened the gate, entered the compound and closed it behind her. She was standing behind the door and couldn't stop smiling. He could do this to her. The way he calmed her with his soothing voice, his understanding eyes and with his soft touch. She felt everything at once. Happiness, sadness, Love. She knew at that moment that she was in love. Deeply in love with Landon Kirby.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There might be some truth surfacing in the chapter. Probably not what you think in the beginning.

Hope dreamt about Landon that night. The next day she still couldn’t shake all the battling feelings inside of her. She missed him already, she needed his closeness. She wondered if he would be at the bar that night as well. Now that she told him somewhat about the truth she felt a little lighter, she never opened up about this to anyone. Then she felt the sadness and the guilt all of a sudden. She knew she needed to tell him. He deserved the truth and maybe she would feel slightly better about herself if she didn’t have to lie anymore. She decided that she will go for it and tell him everything. She knew Landon would listen. He would probably hate her. She didn’t think he would understand her decision but he would listen to her as he listened to her the day before and that knowledge gave her confidence.

Her phone buzzed around 2 in the afternoon.

‘Do you still want me to come over?’

It was Scarlett. She never texted her back. She replied to her quickly.

‘Sure, I’m waiting for you.’

‘Ok. good. I hoped you weren’t mad at me.’

‘God no. I was busy last night.’ ‘And honestly didn’t know what to reply to you about the whole lonely thing. you were kinda right about that.’

‘I’m sorry, shouldn’t have said that’

‘ Don’t apologize. You say what’s on your heart. I like that about you.’

‘😊 ‘

When 3 o’clock came, Hope was sitting in the courtyard reading. She wasn’t wearing her paint stained clothes this time. She made sure to clean up before Scarlett arrived. When Hope heard the opening door, she got up and walked there to greet the girl.

“Hey” Hope said smiling. She still felt confident, nothing could ruin that day.

“Hi” Scarlett said, returning the smile.

“How was your day?” Hope asked her while they were walking to the living room.

“It was fine.” She replied and looked at Hope with questioning eyes.

“What?” Hope frowned at the girl’s expression as she sat down on the couch.

“Nothing” Scarlett shrugged. Hope rolled her eyes at her answer. “I don’t know. You’re different. Why are you asking about my day?” Scarlett asked suspiciously.

“I just want to know about your day, it’s a friendly gesture to ask.” Hope added.

“Okay. It was fine” 

“Really,” Hope rolled her eyes

“Really it was. I had a math test I totally aced. Most of my classes were boring, except science. It was the highlight of my day. So there.” Scarlett said without any enthusiasm, finally sitting down next to Hope on the couch.

“You like science?” Hope asked her interested. She turned to Scarlett, pulling one of her legs up on the couch to sit on it.

“Not really” Hope looked at her with questioning eyes. Scarlett blushed a little. “Fine. I have a crush on my lab partner. He is so cute. I don’t even know what the class was about. He is so freaking distracting.” Scarlett blurted out.

“You know you should pay attention to your classes… but I totally get it.” They laughed. “So tell me about him.”

“He’s name is Oliver and he’s so handsome. He has like the best jaw line and these big dark expressive eyebrows. He’s eyes are so dark brown they are almost black. He really is beautiful.” She was gushing.

“He sounds like a prize. What is he like? Is he a nerd like you?” Hope asked her, smiling.

“Heey.” She frowned “But yeah, he is kind of a nerd…like me. We read comics sometimes together. He even read some of my fics he said it was really good”

“Oh so he likes you too?” Hope asked with a smirk.

“Yeah I think… but he’s a human so I don’t know. It would be exhausting to lie to him all the time if he was my boyfriend so I kinda friend zoning him.” She said it with a pout.

“I’m sorry about that Scarlett. But it is best to keep the distance for his sake as well.” Hope gave her a compassionate smile.

“I know that’s what mom says too… but what if I never find anyone else who likes me.” Scarlett said it quietly in a sad voice.

“Hey come on now. You are so young. You have a whole life ahead of you. You will meet so many people you’ll like and they’ll like you back. You will fall in love one day and someone will love you so much. You’ll see.” Hope tried to reassure her by touching her arm lightly.

“Have you ever been in love?” Scarlett asked her curiously.

“Only once. But it was a long time ago.” Hope replied not sure how much she wanted to share about Landon. She knew Scarlett deserved the truth as well about her birth parents but Hope’s confidence started to fade of the mention of her one true love.

“Yeah?” Scarlett asked her clearly wanting to know more.

“Hmmm… You know I think he was it for me. I will never love anyone else.” She said with sadness in her voice.

“You still love him?” “Scarlett asked her curiously about the subject.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving him.” Hope smiled with sad eyes.

Hope saw on Scarlett that she still had questions in her but she didn’t ask anymore. They spent the afternoon practicing different kinds of spells. Scarlett wrote a whole notebook full of directions on magic spells. Hope told her that next time she would teach her simple potion recipes as well. She was very excited about that.

It was about 7 in the evening when Scarlett left. They really had a good time that day. There was no awkwardness or uncomfortable silences. Even when she asked Hope about Landon she didn’t feel overly anxious about it. She felt sad but she could manage her feelings. She never mentioned Landon to anyone not even in the slightest way she just did today, not even to Abigail. She had no idea who Scarlett’s father was.

Hope was wondering if Landon would visit Rousseau’s that night. She really wanted to see him again, she had to talk to him about who she really was. Her confidence wasn’t as high as earlier so she had to get through this as soon as possible. If she wouldn’t do it that day she might never will. She felt brave and texted him to see if she could see him that night.

‘Hey Landon, thanks again for the talk. Do you want to grab a drink tonight? If you are not busy.’ Hope pressed the send button. She received a reply a couple of minutes later.

‘I would love to but my professor had other plans for me for today. I have to finish a paper.’

‘Good luck with your paper then 😊’ She replied to him. Hope felt disappointed. She really needed to do it that day. She knew herself, she knew it will be much harder as time goes by.

‘Thanks. How about tomorrow? Are you free? Maybe we could reschedule that drink for tomorrow night.’

‘Sounds good 👍’ She just needed to keep it together until the next day. She would do it then.

Well, the next day was different. She didn’t feel all that confident in herself. When she made it to meet Landon, he was so nice and charming and so freaking handsome that she didn’t want their budding friendship to be over. She was selfish, she knew it but it felt so good to be with him she just needed him for a bit longer. Once she would tell him, especially about Scarlett he would never want to hang out with Hope anymore like this. So she held it off just for a day or two.

That day or two turned to be a week then two. The weeks passed by quickly for Hope. She met Landon a few times and Scarlett was there almost every day to practice her magic. When they didn’t see each other, she was texting with both of them. She and Landon shared things about each other. Landon talked about his childhood in foster care which of course Hope knew too well but didn’t mind hearing it again. She could listen to his voice forever. Landon also talked about his brother Rafael, apparently they were still really close. He mentioned he was going to visit him soon in New Orleans. Hope was really curious how Raf turned out to be in the past fifteen years. Hope shared some of her childhood as well, she talked about her parents and family passing early in her life. 

She got along with Scarlett as well. They never talked about their relationship, Scarlett never asked anything too personal, though Hope knew she would one day, she could see the wonder in her eyes. They usually small talked, Scarlett talked about school, her friends and of course Oliver. Life never felt so good for Hope when she was with the two people she cared for the most. Nights were hard, when she was alone with her thoughts. The guilt trip she took every single night ended up with nightmares and anxieties. She decided every single morning that that was the day when she would tell the truth but she never did.

She kinda ignored city business those weeks. There was nothing really concerning but she wasn’t too thrilled about the weird witches visiting the city. They were still in New Orleans according to the hybrids and didn’t stop asking around about Hope in the supernatural community. No one dared to say anything about her though and they didn’t seem to be a threat.

Hope went to visit Sadie and the witches as she promised. There was nothing suspicious, the boundary spell worked just fine. Hope noticed the spell picking up a werewolf arriving to the city she thought it must be Raf. Hope was a little relieved that it didn’t pick up on Landon. She didn’t want to put him in an uncomfortable situation. People were usually afraid of the unknown. His presence would make the now peaceful supernatural community uneasy in the city.

On an early Saturday afternoon Hope and Scarlett were practicing spells in the living room when Hope’s phone was ringing. She grabbed her phone to check who it was. Landon’s name popped up on the screen and Hope involuntarily smiled when she saw it.

“Who is that? Your boyfriend?” Scarlett asked her teasingly.

“Shut up. Let’s take a break.” Hope told her as she was walking outside to the courtyard to talk to Landon.

“Hi Landon.” She answered the phone.

“Hey, so I had a crazy idea.”

“Yeah?”

“You know I told you about my brother. He’s visiting from out of town. He’s never been in New Orleans so I promised him a tour, but I was thinking… who else would be better at giving a tour of the city who grew up in the middle of the beautiful French Quarter.” Landon implied with a light chuckle.

“You want me to give your brother a tour of the Quarter?” Hope asked a little skeptic.

“I was thinking the three of us could explore the Quarter with your guidance and maybe later we could grab dinner somewhere. If you are not busy of course.”

“When?” Hope asked him vaguely. She wanted to see Landon and she even wanted to see Rafael, but it was always frightening to meet new people from her old life.

“Umm. We’re already here pretty close to your place. We could be there whenever you are ready.”

“Ohh…” Hope was a little hesitant about it. Scarlett was right there she didn’t want to ditch her and honestly she was terrified of the idea of her and Landon running into each other. “I don’t know Landon, I’m actually a little busy right now. I would love to see you and meet your brother but I don’t think I can make it. I’m really sorry”

“It’s ok Hope. I should have checked in with you earlier. But if you are free later today just give me a call, I am sure we’ll be around.”

“Sure. Bye Landon.”

“See you later Hope.”

Hope stepped back into the living room where Scarlett was laying on her back on the couch busy with her cellphone. When she noticed Hope entering the room, she sat up and put her phone away.

“So… what did the boyfriend want?” Scarlett asked with a giggle.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” Hope said with a grimace.

“Sure, that’s why you smiled like a fool when your phone rang, and you still have that hazy look you know.” She said with a smirk. Hope gave her a deadly look. She wasn’t serious about it though. Scarlett stiffened at that. “I’m sorry didn’t mean to call you a fool.” She apologized nervously.

“Don’t do that! Please don’t be afraid of me.” Hope’s look softened at the girl’s reaction.

“I’m not... I mean…you know people say things…like no one wants to upset you.” She stuttered.

“Hey, don’t you ever be afraid of me. Ok?” Hope sat next to the girl, turned to her and looked into her eyes gently. “I promise I don’t bite. I mean I do but I won’t bite you.” She chuckled and bumped Scarlett’s shoulder lightly with her fist. Scarlett smiled and nodded.

“You know I should get going. Mom said to get home early today.”

“Oh ok.” Hope just hoped she didn’t scare her away. She wanted to ask if she did something wrong, but the girl was already leaving through the door. “Wait, Scarlett!” She went after her. “Are you ok?”

“Yes, sure.” But she didn’t sound so sure. Hope grabbed her arm and looked at her questioning. “I’m not afraid of you.” Scarlett assured her firmly.

“I didn’t scare you?” She shook her head. “Then what is it?”

“Noth…”

“Please don’t say nothing.” Hope rolled her eyes.

“Really there’s nothing wrong, I promise. It’s just I don’t know… sometimes I wonder…” She mumbled. Hope dragged her back to the couch. She didn’t want Scarlett to leave her house with any bad feelings.

“What are you wondering about?” “Hope asked with her full attention on Scarlett.

“About you…and me… I mean sometimes you seem like this person I don’t think anyone knows. Like you are caring and kind. Like now how you made sure I was ok just because I said one stupid thing. You know I really enjoy spending time with you. Before that I just thought you were this heartless bitch who has no humanity whatsoever.” She tried to explain her thoughts to Hope.

“Heartless bitch huh? That kinda stings.” Hope said but she had a gentlest smile on her face.

“Everyone thinks that.” Scarlett shrugged and smiled.

Hope took a big breath and exhaled it slowly before saying anything to Scarlett. She was pretty sure Scarlett knew about their relationship, but they never talked about it. Hope wasn’t sure if she was ready, she didn’t know what Scarlett was going to ask and had no idea how she was going to explain anything to her, but she decided to let her ask what she wanted to know.

“You can ask anything you want.” She assured her. Now Scarlett was the one breathing heavy. Hope noticed her struggles. Scarlett wanted to ask but didn’t know how, she was probably afraid of the truth. She didn’t say anything , so it was on Hope to talk. She gathered everything she had in her and went for it.

“You know if you are expecting an explanation I don’t think I can give you one now. But ahmm… nearly fifteen years ago I did give birth to you.” Hope didn’t know what else to say, she was waiting for Scarlett’s reaction. Scarlett took a relieved breath but Hope saw the sadness in her eyes.

“I was almost sure about that.” She smiled sadly.

“How did you figure? Your mom told you?” Hope was curious.

“No but she talks about you a lot you know. I always knew I was adopted and different from anyone else, my mom always telling me to never let my guard down not even amongst the wolves. I always knew I had magic and that I had to hide it. She told me every day to never take off that stupid bracelet and to always cover my shoulders.” Then she turned around slightly, pulled her shirt off her right shoulder for a moment to show her birthmark. It was the crescent moon identical to Hope’s. “We learn about the Labonair line early on with the wolves. They told us stories about former alphas of the pack, all from the same werewolf line. The Labonairs are basically legends and they are all supposed to have the same birthmark. The exact same I have. And probably you… since we learned that you are the last one.” Scarlett explained.

“So that’s how you figured? The birthmark?” Hope asked.

“Well not exactly but everything added up. Like I always had super healing it is not really a thing with untriggered wolves. So I figured it as vampire blood. I kinda had this idea about you but of course I never dared to ask you or mom. I mean mom would have told me if I asked, I'm sure about that, but I never showed any interest to her about my birth parents. I was curious but I didn’t want her to think that I wanted to replace her or anything. “ Scarlett shrugged and Hope smiled at how sweet she was.

“What made you come here to see me that day?” Hope asked curiously.

“As I said I never would have dared to ask you. I thought you were this untouchable terrifying goddess. Then you came to our house last month. First you ran away like a scared little girl then later you were just staring at me. I noticed how similar we looked. Besides my crazy hair. Like we have the same eyes, like how short you really are just like me. And we actually exchanged a few words that night. That gave me the courage to come here to talk to you. I really didn’t know what I was expecting, I was so nervous that I was totally improvising the magic teaching thing.”

“Seriously? You don’t even want to learn magic?” Hope asked, pretending that she was offended.

“I do! I love it really, I never even thought I’ll have a chance and now I feel more confident in it every day.” Scarlett tried to reassure her.

“Good, because I don’t want this to stop.” Hope smiled and stroked her arm slightly.

“Why did you do it? Why did you give me up for adoption?” Scarlett asked her nervously. Hope looked away for a moment and took a deep breath before returning her look to Scarlett.

“I guess I was scared.” Hope said unsure. “I’m sorry I don’t know how to explain this to you right now.” Scarlett looked disappointed.

“What about the other part of my genepool?” She was a little irritated that she didn’t get an answer from Hope for her previous question.

Hope knew that she was probably going to ask about her father. She couldn’t even say father. She had a mother in Abigail but she never had a dad. This was the part Hope hated herself for the most. They never had a chance, Hope never let them. Hope tried to remain calm. She couldn’t have a breakdown now, but it was still hard for her to talk about her and Landon’s past and there was no Landon here to help her calm down. So she collected herself as much as she could and started talking about him.

“You remember when I told you about the boy I was in love with?” Hope asked her with uncertainty.

“You said you still love him. Is that him?” Scarlett asked.

“Yeah.” Hope said with a sad smile.

“Why did he leave? He didn’t want me?”Scarlett asked Hope, the second part so quietly if Hope wasn’t a vampire probably couldn’t hear her.

Hope’s heart dropped at her question. She thought her father left her. Hope felt her eyes burning. She couldn’t let Scarlett think that.

“He didn’t leave Scarlett. I never told him I was pregnant.” Hope said but couldn’t look into her eyes anymore.

“What do you mean? He didn’t know about me? He still doesn’t know about me?” Scarlett asked with confusion.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I meant.” Hope just shrugged.

“I can’t believe this” Scarlett was hyperventilating. “I might actually have a father who wanted me!” Now she just sounded angry. Hope looked at her when she used the word father. Scarlett was angry. She was right to be. Hope took something from the both of them that can never be returned. She hated herself for that.

“I’m sorry” and that’s all Hope could say to her. Scarlett looked furious now.

“Are you? That’s all you have to say?”

She was waiting for Hope to add something, but she couldn’t. Hope felt her lungs tightening and tears swelling in her eyes.

“You really are the heartless bitch everyone is talking about. You are a selfish power hungry bitch. I bet you left him and me for playing queen in this city. You know it’s no wonder you are always alone. I hope it worth it!” She spitted out her words with fury and stormed out of the room and out of the compound.

Hope ran after her to the street but Scarlett ran towards the crowd outside. She didn’t see her anymore. When Hope returned to the compound and closed the door behind herself she couldn’t contain her tears anymore. She broke down on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the sad ending. I promise it will be happier soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone reading and commenting!  
> This chapter is a little bit longer, I didn't now where to devide it so it is almost 5000 words, probably full of mistakes so sorry for that.
> 
> We might have a glimps of our favorite twins in this but mostly Handon.

A couple of hours later Hope collected herself enough to get up from the floor. She made her way to the living room and laid down on the couch. As she was lying there she heard her phone buzz. She hoped it would be Scarlett but knew she probably never wanted to see her again. She grabbed her phone and saw a text from Landon.

‘Hey Hope, we are headed to grab some dinner. Would you like to join us? We are not far from your place.’

Hope wanted nothing more than to see Landon right now, but she really wasn’t up for an outing with him and Rafael.

‘I’m sorry Landon, I’m not feeling very well tonight.’ She texted back to him.

‘What happened? Are you sick? Do you need anything?’Landon replied immediately.

‘Don’t worry about me I’ll be ok. Have fun with your brother.’

‘Ok. Just take care of yourself.’

Hope smiled at how caring he was. She put the phone on the coffee table, grabbed a soft blanket and pulled it over herself. She laied down on the couch again, curled up in a fetal position and fell asleep exhausted. She woke when her phone started to ring. She grabbed it off the table and answered in a tired voice.

“Hey”

“Hey, did I wake you? I'm so sorry” Landon answered.

“It’s fine Landon.” Hope replied in a sweet voice.

“So I just got some soup for you from the restaurant, I thought it might help you feel better. If you would like some I can drop it off by your place.” Hope was so moved at his kindness and she needed to see him even if just for a second, so she decided to accept his offer.

“Oh, that’s really kind of you. Just let me know when you are here”

“To be honest I’m already at your gate. I was looking for a bell or something, but I have no clue how to get in and a weird scary dude questioning why am I here.”

“Oh ok. I’ll be right there.” Poor Landon, probably one of the hybrids noticed him standing around the doorway. They lived close by, someone always keeping an eye on the compound. There was also no way for Landon to get in. Hope was very protective of her privacy. The only people who had free access to her home were the hybrids and Scarlett. Anyone else could only enter with an invitation from Hope or from the accessed people. People without access had to be invited in every time they wanted to enter the home. It wasn’t like the vampire’s rule that they only had to be invited in once to a certain home then they had unlimited access afterwards.

Hope opened the gate slightly. There was Landon standing with a container in his hand and Alex standing right next to him with an angry expression.

“Hey Landon.” Hope greeted him. “Alex please leave him alone.” She instructed the hybrid. He nodded and left.

“Hope, hi. Wow what was his problem?” Landon was wondering looking at Alex as he was walking down the street. “I’m sorry I just barged in here, but I felt really bad that you were feeling sick. I hope this will help.” He handed her the container of soup.

“Thanks. He’s kind of a guard, just doing his job.” She looked at him, didn’t really want him to leave yet. “Umm...where’s your brother?” She was curious if Raf was around.

“Oh, he went back to his Airbnb.” He explained.

“Would you like to come in? I can offer you something to drink as an appreciation for the soup.” She offered as she wasn’t ready for him to go.

“Yeah, sure” He smiled at her. Hope opened the gate a little wider so he could enter. She led him to the courtyard.

“Om my God! This place is amazing.” Landon was looking around amazed.

“Umm.. yeah this place has been in my family for centuries.” Hope said as she led him towards the kitchen to have some soup. She wanted to make sure Landon knew how grateful she was for caring.

“Wow it’s all yours? I kinda thought it was like an apartment complex. It’s huge. It also explains the guard around.”

“Yeah I know… It’s a little big for one person but there was a time when my family was huge, and many people lived here.” She explained smiling. “The kitchen is this way.” She gestured as they walked through the courtyard “I’ll just grab a spoon. Would you like to share the soup?” She asked.

“I just had dinner, I am so full I don’t think I could eat one more bite.”

When they entered the kitchen, Hope turned on the bright light. Landon looked at her concerned. He must have noticed her puffy tear stained cheeks.

“Are you okay?” He asked with concern.

“Sure” She answered with an uncertain smile. “No, I’m not” She shrugged as she grabbed a spoon from a drawer and poured the soup into a bowl.

“Would you like to talk about it?” He asked.

“I’m not sure…umm…I promised you a drink. What would you like to have?” Hope tried to change the subject. She felt like she wanted to talk to Landon about it but didn’t know how to tell him what she was going through although she craved his comforting attention.

“I don’t think I need any alcohol to be honest, but I would accept some soda or water. Whatever you have.” He said smiling.

“I have some soda in the fridge, just grab whatever you like.” She gestured towards the fridge.

As he opened the fridge door Hope suddenly stiffened. She was so stupid. The fridge was full of blood bags. She quickly wanted to add something but it was already too late, he surely saw the bags. Landon slowly grabbed a soda and closed the fridge door. He looked at Hope with uncertainty. Hope stared at him but didn’t say a word. She was waiting for his reaction, when Landon just smiled at her.

“So… you’re a vampire.” Landon said, smiling without a hint of displease.

“Yes” she added vaguely.

“It’s fine Hope, I have plenty of vampire friends. I would still want to hang out with you if that’s ok with you.” She tried to reassure her, noticing her uneasiness.

“Thanks Landon” She smiled and felt relieved. She of course knew Landon was very much familiar with the supernatural and he was one, but she was still a little nervous about every new information surfacing about her. “Would you like to sit down in the living room? I can finish eating there.” She smiled and made her way towards the living room, Landon following her. They sat down on the couch and Hope began to eat.

“It’s really good soup.” She stated.

“Vampires technically cannot even get sick so I guess that wasn’t really the problem. I’m not sure now if the soup was the best choice.”

“It’s still a good soup and I haven’t had any dinner so I am still grateful.” Hope smiled at him.

Landon nodded with a smile. They sat in silence as Hope was eating and Landon was sipping on his drink. It was a calm comfortable silence. Hope felt calm just being near him. Hope turned on the tv, asking Landon if it was ok with him. He nodded. It was some talk show taking over the silence. Hope didn’t really pay attention. When she finished the soup she put the bowl on the coffee table. She felt his warmth so close. Her senses were overwhelmed by him. She felt like she was gravitating toward him, she got closer and closer to him unconsciously. She stopped when their arms were touching and turned to him at the sudden feeling of the contact. She felt her face blushing. He was staring at her, looking into her eyes deeply. There were no words between them but Hope longed for him, for his touch, for his kiss. Hope was staring at his soft lips now. No, she couldn’t do this he had a girlfriend. She had to stop thinking that way. So, she started to talk to distract herself from the craving she felt for him.

“I hurt someone today…someone I really care about. ” She said looking into his eyes.

“Do you think you can fix it?” He asked, maintaining the eye contact.

“Honestly, I’m not sure she’ll ever forgive me. I’m an awful person Landon. If you knew me better you wouldn’t want to be near me.” She shrugged.

“You’re always saying that, but I don’t believe you. I just think you have some major self esteem issues.” Landon shrugged as well.

“Whatever.”Hope rolled her eyes.

“But hey, talk to her where she stands and try your best to make it right if you really care about this person. I can’t tell you if she’ll forgive you or not but don’t give up. Ok?” Landon tried to comfort her as he touched a stray lock of hair on her face and tucked it behind her ear. At the contact Hope couldn’t contain herself anymore. She leaned into Landon’s shoulder and breathed him in deeply. Landon stroked her hair that kissed the top of her head. Hope felt like she wanted more, she wanted to feel him more intimately. Then she quickly shook off her thoughts and broke the contact between them. She drifted back in the couch to make some space between them. It wasn’t right he had a girlfriend, and this didn’t feel like a friendly contact between them anymore.

“I’m sorry Landon…but I’m sure Claire wouldn’t appreciate us being so close even if it is just a friendly gesture.” Hope stuttered uncomfortably.

“To be honest Claire and I broke up a few days ago. It doesn’t mean anything has to change between us it is ok to feel uncomfortable. I’m sorry for that” Landon added.

“Oh my god I had no idea! We were just talking about me all this time. I'm so sorry. What happened?” Hope asked surprised, but much relieved.

“I was going to tell you, it just didn’t seem like the right time.” Landon said. “We argued a lot lately, none of us were happy in that relationship. We were just too different. It wouldn’t have worked in the long run.” He shrugged, he didn’t seem too sad about it.

“I’m sorry Landon.” Hope added and wanted to say something else, but Landon got up from the couch.

“It’s getting late, I should really get going now.” He said.

“Sure” Hope said as she stood up as well.

“Hey, so tomorrow we are planning a quiet night with my friends, probably a movie night or some board games. Would you like to join? My brother really wants to meet you.” He chuckled.

“You were talking to your brother about me?” Hope asked with a smile.

“Yeah, you know older brothers. They want to know what kind of friends I’m hanging out with.” He smiled slightly embarrassed.

“Sure, where should I go then?” Hope asked wondering where Landon lives now that she broke up with his girlfriend.

“Couple of my friends are staying in town for a few weeks and they rented an Airbnb. My brother Rafael stays there too and I’m staying there as well until I find a better solution.” He explained. “I’ll text you the address. You could come by around 7 maybe?”

“Amm. You know I’m a vampire. I don’t think I can enter an Airbnb. The owner has to invite me in.” Hope explained.

“Don’t worry about that. The owner is a vampire my friends only rent from them. One of my friends is a vampire, so you can enter freely.” Landon reassured her with a smile.

“Ok then. See you tomorrow Landon.” She said smiling.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” He smiled back and hugged Hope tightly. She hugged him back with ease. She felt so peaceful being in his arms again. She never wanted to let go but felt Landon’s hug weakening. As he was letting her go, he kissed her head again before leaving the compound.

After Landon left Hope went upstairs to her room to get in bed. She was smiling, still feeling Landon’s scent on herself. The smile started to fade as she lay all alone in the dark. The familiar feeling full of heartache and guilt started to wash over her. She really needed to tell him the truth, but they were getting closer and he just broke up with his girlfriend. Perhaps Scarlett was right, she was a heartless selfish bitch after all. Then she thought of Scarlett. She had no idea how to fix this.

Hope sent a couple of texts that night to Scarlett. She apologized and promised her to explain the full story. Scarlett never texted her back. The next day Hope sent a couple more texts and tried to call her a few times, but she never answered. Hope decided to leave her alone for a couple of days and she would try again and maybe she would go visit her in the Bayou.

As the evening came closer Hope got excited about seeing Landon again. She dressed in comfortable clothes in jeans and a burgundy V-neck cotton shirt. She applied light makeup and let her hair loose. She got into her car and headed to the address Landon sent her.

Hope arrived at an apartment complex in the middle of the city. She buzzed herself in and the main entrance opened. She walked upstairs to the apartment Landon and the others were staying at. She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly before knocking on the door. Landon opened it with his radiant smile.

“Hi Hope, come on in please.” Landon hugged Hope for a moment, before she guided her inside the apartment.

“Thanks” She wished the hug lasted a little longer, she didn’t even have time to reciprocate it.

“This is my brother Rafael.” He gestured to Raf, who made her way to Hope to greet her. He looked so different from how Hope remembered him. He was older, in her early thirties. Of course he was Hope shouldn’t have been surprised but it was still weird to see how her friend aged while she remained basically the same.

“Hi Hope, it is so nice to meet you! Landon just can’t shut up about you.” Landon’s face turned red and he punched his brother’s arm.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you too.” Hope smiled then looked at Landon. “Is that so? I hope all good things.” She said teasing.

“There are only good things.” Landon replied. Come on, let’s go to the living room, I’ll introduce you to the girls.

When they entered the room she saw the two girls sitting on the couch. They were bickering on what movie they should watch. When the girls noticed them entering the room they stopped with the girlish arguing, got up and went to greet Hope. It was them. Hope couldn’t believe it. She smiled. She was so happy and relieved for them. They were alive and well and fighting on stupid things just like when they were in school. Josie and Lizzie were right there. Hope wanted to hug them and tell them how happy she was to see her best friends but of course they didn’t remember her. Just like Landon or Raf or anyone else for that matter. So, she just stood there to introduce herself like they were meeting for the first time ever.

“Hi, I’m Lizzie and this is my sister Josie. It’s nice to meet you.” She giggled.

“Hi” Josie said with a polite smile.

“Hi, nice to meet you too, I’m Hope.” She smiled at them. Lizzie looked mostly the same, she was somewhat older, maybe in her early twenties but she was definitely not thirty or so. Hope thought she must be a vampire. A heretic even. That’s pretty cool, she thought. She really wanted to know what exactly happened with the merge. Obviously if Lizzie was a vampire that should prevent it but Hope still wanted to know details, but she couldn’t really ask, they didn’t even know each other. Josie on the other hand was older. Like Rafael, she aged but she was still beautiful. She had a certain sadness in her eyes and her smile wasn’t full of life like it used to. Hope wondered what had happened to her.

“So, I was thinking Twilight” Lizzie interrupted Hope’s thoughts. “What do you think Hope?”

“Lizzie, what are you twelve? Please don’t torture us with that garbage” Josie replied.

“I’m sorry but I have to agree with Josie. That movie is a crime against humanity. And vampires.” Hope said with a grin.

“And werewolves,” Raf added.

“So, we agreed not to watch it. Great.” Josie said, then they settled on a comedy.

Lizzie, Josie and Raf scattered around the living room. Landon sat on the couch and gestured to Hope to sit next to him. She happily sat down by him. She wanted to be as close to him as possible, but she contained herself and maintained a small distance. As the movie started and the lights were turned off Hope felt Landon’s arm touching hers slightly at first. He totally moved closer to her. Then she felt their arms pressing against each other with more force. It seemed like Hope wasn’t the only one wanting the closeness. She smiled to herself in the darkness then she leaned against Landon’s arm and breathed him in deeply. Hope felt Landon’s gaze on her so she looked up into his beautiful eyes. Landon moved a little then placed his arm over Hope’s arm hugging her tight against his own body. Hope leaned against his chest. She felt his warmth and heard his heart beating right into her ears. It was the most beautiful sound to her. All her senses were overwhelmed by him. She didn’t even realize how much she missed this, missed him. Landon started to stroke her naked arm slightly. Hope shuddered at his soft touch, then she felt something different, something that started to feel a little uncomfortable. His touch, his smell and how their bodies melt into each other started to make Hope feel uncomfortably tense at a certain part of her body. She hadn’t had a release in weeks and all the attention her body received was driving her crazy. God she wanted him so badly. She wanted him to kiss her, to touch her, to devour her. Even if it was a possibility with him now that he was single there were others in the room. Oh god she just realized that Lizzie as a vampire and Raf as a werewolf could surely smell her arousal by now. Shit. She felt her face burning and her heart was beating rapidly. Great Lizzie could hear that too. She tried to calm herself and concentrate on the rest of the movie. It was awfully hard with Landon’s sweet strokes on her arm. Well it didn’t really matter, she already embarrassed herself in front of Lizzie and Raf.

When the movie was over, Hope untangled herself from Landon’s arms. She noticed Lizzie looking at her with a smirk. She just rolled her eyes at her and left to the bathroom. She washed her face and tried to refresh herself a little, before returning to the others. When she exited the bathroom, Landon found her.

“You ok?” He asked.

“Yes, of course” Hope assured him with a smile.

“You just felt a little tense, I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” Landon added.

“Landon, I’m fine.” Hope looked into his eyes, grabbed both his arms and squeezed it tightly feeling how muscular it was. “You would never make me uncomfortable, I enjoyed every moment with you.” She smiled at him.

“I’m glad” Landon took a relieved breath. “Maybe next time we could do a movie night with just the two of us?” Landon said smiling.

“Like a date?” Hope asked with a smirk

“Yeah, kinda” He said blushing.

“I’d love that.” Hope answered with an honest smile.

“We should get back to the others, they have some plan to play a board game. I hope you are up for it.” He added.

“Sure” She said and they headed back to the living room.

There was some kind of board game spread out on the coffee table. The twins explained the rules and they started to play. Hope felt like she was in school again and having a fun night with her friends. Like times had never changed.

Lizzie started to talk about how much she missed her husband, but she would stay in New Orleans as long as her sister needed her. Hope was wondering who she was married to when it came up that it was MG. Hope would have never guessed he finally succeeded on wooing her. It turned out Josie was married as well to none other than the Satan aka Penelope Park. The twins didn’t talk much about their life, but it seemed like they were mostly happy and it made Hope happy.

“So, Landon said you were a vampire.” Lizzie asked out of the blue.

“Yeah” Hope shrugged.

“I’m just asking to offer you a blood bag if you want. I’m gonna grab one, I’m a vampire too.” Lizzie added.

“No thanks Lizzie, I’m ok.” Hope smiled.

“Oh my god you could be like hundreds of years old.” Raf added while Lizzie ran to the kitchen. Landon hit Raf’s arm and gave him a pissed stare.

“I’m not hundreds of years old Raf. I turned around 13 years ago if you must know.” Hope said and Raf nodded.

“I’m a werewolf.” He replied with a grin. He wanted to impress Hope or something, so she just smiled at him.

“I turned on my 22 nd birthday 9 years ago.” Lizzie said as she was walking back sipping on a blood bag. “Josie’s my twin” She added.

“Huh” Hope tried to look surprised. So she turned on the day of the merge. Hope wanted to know more but didn’t dare to ask and expose why she knew so much about them.

“Landon also said that you grew up in the city and you live in the middle of the French Quarter.” Josie said unsure.

“Josie, please!” Landon frowned at her.

“Yes, I do. Why?” Hope asked curiously.

“I’m looking for someone.” Josie said. “A witch, a powerful one. There’s this rumor that a really powerful witch rules the supernatural in this city. Maybe you know something about them?”

“Why would you ask me that?” Hope asked, a little annoyed. Then it all made sense now. The witches out of town who were looking for her in weeks. One with the strange aura. Probably Lizzie, because she is not only a witch but a vampire as well kind of like Hope herself only she had the wolf too. What could be so important that they stay here for weeks to find Hope?

“I just thought because you are a supernatural maybe you heard about them.” Josie said

“Hope you don’t need to answer that. Everyone is terrified of that witch, I don’t want you to get in trouble.” Landon told Hope.

“What do you want with her?” Hope asked. Josie was her friend once, she was curious why would she need Hope, Josie was a powerful witch herself. Hope still cared for her and she was obviously going through something so Hope would try to help for sure. She wouldn’t be that selfish heartless bitch everyone including Scarlett thought she was. But even Landon said that witch was terrifying. God if he knew. Would he still be interested? It didn’t matter really. Once the truth would come out Landon would not want to be anywhere near Hope. And the truth must come out, Hope had to tell him. But how could she ruin this with Landon, they were actually planning a date. Just one date, she would tell him after. Until then it was so nice to pretend that it was going to last.

“It’s a her? That’s the most information we got so far.” Lizzie interrupted her thoughts. Hope just shrugged. It didn’t really matter now, they will find out it’s her sooner or later if she was going to help Josie.

“Amm. It is kinda personal and I don’t really know you, no offense.” Josie answered to Hope although she was a little offended. Josie obviously didn’t know her but still Hope missed that kindness Josie always radiated.

“You know you won’t find her if you are asking around in town. Landon’s right, people are terrified of her, they would never give any viable information to out of towners.” Hope said with a shrug.

“I just don’t understand how it is possible that this powerful witch exists, and we don’t know anything about her.” Lizzie said.

“Well, I can tell an interesting story about her.” Hope told them.

“Are you sure?” Landon asked with concern. “It doesn’t sound like she’s going to appreciate it if you talk about her. I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Landon said, putting his hand on Hope’s squeezing it lightly.

“Don’t worry Landon, no one can hurt me.” Hope said with a reassuring smile. His touch and caring words always made her so calm. But Hope needed to tell something to the girls if she wanted to help Josie with her troubles.

“You are confident. We are here in this city for like two weeks and every supernatural we found was frightened if we mentioned who we were looking for.” Said Lizzie.

“Yeah well… there was a time when every supernatural being knew about her. Even you.” Hope said as she was pointing to everyone in the room.

“That’s impossible.” Josie said.

“What if you just don’t remember her?” Hope asked them and shrugged.

“How could we not remember someone like that?” Josie said in disbelief.

“Powerful magic?” Lizzie asked.

“Kind of. Her existence was wiped out from the collective consciousness.” Hope added.

“Malivore” Landon said and stared at Hope with uncertainty in his eyes.

“Exactly.” Hope shrugged. “So no one remembers her. She had roots in the city and convinced the supernatural to accept her mindset… They eventually accepted her as their leader and New Orleans never was as peaceful as it is today.”

“If they fear her that much, I’m pretty sure that convincing and accepting wasn’t quite a peaceful process.” Raf added with a chuckle.

“Maybe not but the city is thriving today, whatever she did was necessary.” Hope said seriously.

Hope felt Landon’s staring gaze at her. She looked up to see him. He had clarity in his eyes then let Hope’s hand go. Hope felt a cold shiver run through her body on the loss of his contact. Landon looked disappointed and it hurt Hope.

“Then why are you telling us all this if she is so unreachable? You know her, do you?” Josie asked her. Hope didn’t feel like staying there anymore. Landon’s mood change bothered her greatly.

“Look Josie, if you want I can set up a meeting for you with her but I need to go now.” Hope said plainly.

“Wow. Are you serious?” Lizzie asked in disbelief.

“Sure, give me your number, I’ll text you the details.” Hope said and Josie handed her a card with her number on it.

“Thank you so much Hope, you have no idea how much it means to me.” Josie had a genuine smile on her face.

“Don’t worry about it. Thank you for the fun night. See you guys later.” She got up and headed to the door. She looked to Landon if he would come, but he didn’t move. Hope walked to the door alone, disappointed.

“Wait, I’ll walk you downstairs to your car.” Landon told her plainly as he rushed over to her. They walked in silence until they stopped by the parking car. Landon started into her blue eyes not letting her gaze go.

“It’s you isn’t it”? Landon asked her quietly. Hope just stared back at him not saying a word. “I mean other people forgot about you. I'm just guessing it’s not a coincidence.” Hope just nodded silently. “I can’t believe this. I actually like someone like really like, and they turn out to be some evil queen that everyone is terrified of.” Landon huffed in disbelief.

“I told you I wasn’t a good person Landon.” Hope whispered, feeling her eyes burning. The two people she cared about the most in this whole world hated her. She knew of course they were right. It was all her. She was the only one to blame here. Landon didn’t even know the full truth and already hated her, she could hear it in his voice. Maybe it’s better. She shouldn’t pretend anymore just accept her faith already.

“I should have listened.” Landon said.

At that Hope’s tears started falling. He was disappointed in her already, he didn’t want to be with someone like her. She was just that horrible, not even Landon believed in her. She was sobbing now she couldn’t stop. His words hurt, like a sharp cold knife right through her heart. Landon was still standing there. Why was he still there? He should just leave her alone like she always was.

Suddenly she felt his hands on her arms. He pulled her close into his warmth and hugged her tightly. He was stroking her back firmly with one hand and holding her head pressed against his chest with the other.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. You didn’t give me any reason to believe it’s true.” He kept her there stroking her until her sobs lightened.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Handon fluff in this chapter.

Landon drove Hope home. He didn’t let her drive in the state she was in. The drive was silent, only Hope’s heavy breathing and quite sobs filled the air as she was tiring to calm down. Landon kept a stroking hand on her thigh for comfort. When they arrived to the compound, Landon opened the car door for her and offered a hand. She took it and they walked inside the courtyard hand in hand. Hope calmed down at this point but she wasn’t ready to let Landon’s hand go. She maybe held it a little too tightly because Landon sensed that she needed him. He looked in her eyes and caressed her cheek gently with his free hand. Hope put her hand on his and guided his hand to her lips. She placed a gentle kiss on his palm. Hope then let go both of his hands and placed them on his face cradling it softly holding his gaze for a moment before she kissed him gently on his lips. He kissed her back with passion pulling her closer to his warmth with one hand on her waist and one on his shoulders. The kiss got fierce and passionate as they melted into each other’s arm. They were tasting, sucking, nipping each other’s lips as Hope buried one of her hand into his curls. She wanted him, she wanted more, she could feel him, she could feel he wanted her too. Hope licked his bottom lip firmly. At the sensation Landon opened his mouth to let her tongue inside. Their tongues danced together fiercely with passion. Hope never wanted to stop tasting him but they needed to come up for some air. They were breathing heavy wanting nothing more to be with one another. Hope knew he wanted it as much as she but she needed to tell him the truth at least some of it.

“Landon” She said, still out of breath. He looked at her lovingly. “I wasn’t completely honest with you and I need to tell you something before we do something we’ll regret.”

“What is it, Hope?” He asked her.

“Amm...” Hope sat down on the sofa in the courtyard and patted the seat next to herself for Landon to sit down as well. He sat next to her. “Remember I told you about this guy I was in love with before…before Malivore happened.” He nodded not really understanding why Hope would bring up a boy he loved at this moment. “You don’t remember it Landon.” She shuddered of the fear of rejection, her tears started to fall again.

“What do you mean? If I don’t remember I don’t…” Then he looked at Hope and shook his head. “No, that can be, it can’t be me Hope.”

“Well it is you, I’m really sorry. You were with Josie and everyone seemed so much happier without me.” She said as her tears were falling.

Hope couldn’t read his expression. Anger? Disappointment? Heartbreak for sure. He got up from the sofa, started walking in circles. He was trying to process every information he found out about Hope that night. He took a loud breath and stopped in front of Hope. He stood there looking at her in silence for what it seemed like forever when he finally started to talk.

“Josie and I were a summer fling when we were kids, it didn’t last more than a couple of months.” He said it in disbelief. “That was your reason?” He shook his head.

“You looked happy…happier…besides we were kids too.” Hope said in a hoarse voice, tears streaming down her face.

“Maybe… but it wasn’t a fling was it?“ He inhaled and exhaled loudly once more then sat down next to Hope again, maintaining some distance. “You told me that it was real love, epic love.” There was another silence. He was looking at her teary eyes and she was looking at him. She loved him, she wanted to tell him that but couldn’t seem to find her voice. “Hope the first time I saw you I felt something different about you, something I couldn’t put my finger around. Then I saw you in that bar and wanted nothing more than to get to know you. I kept coming back because I couldn’t stay away from you. You were like a magnet, I needed to be close to you.” He explained and put her hand on Hope’s in her lap. “I think I’m in love with you.” He was surprised by his own words he probably just realized this as he said it out loud. Hope was surprised as well. She was speechless. She was staring at him in silence, didn’t want to believe the words he just said out loud. After what it seemed like forever, she finally responded in a raspy voice still fighting her tears.

“I’m in love with you too Landon Kirby. I don’t think I ever stopped loving you.” The tears were still falling but she smiled genuinely, her eyes were smiling too.

“You’re smile is so beautiful.” He wiped her tears away, then kissed her cheek right under her eye. Hope grabbed his face gently with both hands guiding his lips to hers.

They were kissing lovingly on the sofa then it became heated and passionate once more. Hope moved herself on top of Landon’s lap straddling him. They made out fiercely wanting to devour each other. Hope could feel his excitement at the crotch area and she involuntarily grinded against him making a quiet moan escape her mouth. Landon broke the kiss to move his mouth to her neck. He was kissing and nipping the silky skin there. He found her soft spot and started to suck on it. At the feeling Hope grinded again making her and Landon moan against his neck. She wanted him, all of him.

“Landon I need you” She whispered into his ears. Landon looked into her eyes, nodding. Hope made her way off Landon’s lap to get up, Landon followed then Hope led him upstairs to her bedroom.

They made love all night exploring every inch of their bodies. They exhausted each other with multiple powerful orgasms. They fell asleep naked in each other's arms when the sun started to rise.

Hope woke up to the sound of his heartbeat right under her ear. She opened her eyes with a smile on her face. She could still barely comprehend that she was indeed in Landon’s arms. She moved her head slowly to look at him. He was already awake, he smiled at her.

“Good morning sunshine.” He kissed her forehead.

“It’s more like good afternoon” then she captured his lips with hers. She couldn’t get enough of him. Hope moved her legs to straddle him, noticing his hardness.

“We need to do something about that.” Hope giggled.

“What do you have in mind?” Landon asked seductively.

Hope smirked at him and took action by riding him until they both collapsed with their sweet release.

“Now it’s a good afternoon.” He said gasping exhaustedly.

They cuddled naked in silence not wanting to move, not wanting to let go of one another.

“Did we do this before?” Landon asked Hope stroking her hair lightly, who was resting her head on his chest.

“All night, last night.” She giggled.

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Landon said and Hope turned to look at him.

“We were each other’s firsts.” Hope said simply with sad eyes.

“I can’t believe I don’t remember my first time. Especially with you. I’m sorry.” Landon kissed her head.

“It’s not your fault Landon, don’t apologize for something you had no control over.”

“Would you tell me? Our first time? How was it? I was so awkward as a teenager I’m sure I did something really embarrassing.” Landon chuckled.

“No Landon you were perfect. So gentle and loving and made sure I was ok and not hurting. You made sure I finished off on a good note before you did.” She laughed. “Perfect gentleman.” Hope placed a soft kiss on his chest where his heart was beating.

“Tell me about the first time we met.” He asked.

“We were fifteen, you worked at the Mystic Grill and I was your faithful customer who just couldn’t stay away from your milkshakes and charms.” Hope giggled.

“Peanut butter blast whip cream on the bottom?” Landon asked with curiosity.

“How did you…?” Hope jumped and sat up on the bed looking at Landon all serious. “That was my order. Do you remember?”

“No. I mean probably deep down somehow. I ended up ordering the same milkshake every time I went to the Mystic Grill. I hate peanut butter.” He sat up facing Hope and shrugged. “The moment I saw you that morning with James…”

“God! Can we not talk about that?” Hope interrupted with an eye roll. Landon chuckled.

“It’s fine Hope I’m not judging.” He smiled. “What I meant is that I knew you were someone important even though I had no idea who you were. I think deep down I recognized you.”

“You still don’t remember me so it doesn’t really matter.” She shrugged a little disappointed.

“There’s something else that made sense just now. You know what I am. Right?” Landon asked.

“Sure, Phoenix, son of Malivore.” She said.

“Yeah. So I haven’t died in a long time, over ten years now so I haven’t been thinking about this lately. But there was a time I think it was around when you disappeared from our life when I kept dying… I kept killing myself.” He added.

“What? Oh my God Landon that’s not healthy. Were you okay?” She interrupted.

“Yeah, Josie helped me with that… umm but the reason I kept dying is because when I was dead I saw this vision. A vision of a girl with the most amazing blue eyes and a most beautiful smile I have ever seen. I am pretty sure it was you buried in my mind. You know I haven’t stopped searching for those blue eyes ever since. Somehow unconsciously I was looking for you in every relationship I had.” Landon explained.

“I’m really sorry I ran. I had no idea.” Hope felt awful. Landon kept dying to see her. That made her even more guilty. She hated this feeling but she was too familiar with it by now. She was still unable to talk to him about Scarlett, the source of her guilt. He needed to know. She needed to know. Hope knew that, but she wanted to enjoy him just for a little bit longer before it’s all over. She was that selfish, Scarlett was right. He will never forgive her just like Scarlett will never forgive her.

“Hope, I forgive you for that. Even though I don’t remember I know one thing for sure. That I need you, I want you. I want to be with you. I’ve never felt anything like this before. I love you.” Landon said so kindly reassuring Hope. He caressed her face gently then leaned in and kissed her lips softly.

It didn’t make Hope feel better, she was already too deep in her guilt trip. She let the kiss last but didn’t kiss him back this time.

“So how are you a witch and the vampire at the same time? Are you like a heretic?” He asked her when he broke the kiss, changing the subject all of a sudden. He surely felt Hope’s hesitation.

“Oh I’m more like tribrid. Witch, vampire and werewolf.” She said, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“How is that even possible? I heard of vampire-wolf hybrids or vampire-witch hybrids as heretics but even they are super rare.”

“You heard of the original hybrid?”

“Klaus Mikaelson? Yeah sure, I learned about him in school. I even taught about him to the young, back in the Salvatore school. He was a ruthless murderer. You know there was a time he lived here in New Orleans. Build quite an empire here.” Landon explained and seemed quite impressed with his knowledge.

“Yeah… he was my dad.” Hope said unsure of his reaction.

“Oh my god! Are you serious?” He asked in disbelief and Hope just nodded. “And I’m in his house. The Mikaelson compound?” Hope just nodded again. “That’s pretty incredible, no wonder people are afraid of you having a father like…I mean what you read about him is not picturing him in his best look.”

“He wasn’t that bad. People who wrote those books didn’t know who he was. They saw one side of him.” Hope said with a little sadness in her voice remembering how loving her father was and how everyone saw him as the great evil.

“I believe that. Like how they don’t know how sweet and kind and emotional you really are.” He touched her face gently and kissed her lips again. She returned it this time softly for a moment before she said something.

“I built an image for a reason you know, and it’s worth it. Never been peace like this between the three factions. They don’t just tolerate each other, they actually work together. I’d like to think that my parents would be proud of me for achieving this.” She explained.

“I’m sure they are proud of you Hope.” He smiled. “So you’re a hybrid like your dad. Where did the witch come from?” He asked curiously.

“Yes, I was born a hybrid. I had to trigger both my wolf and vampire side though. In my dad’s family every firstborn is a witch with an insane amount of magic so that was me. And my mother was also a wolf, she was the alpha of the crescent peck here in New Orleans.” Hope explained.

“You are pretty incredible.” He smiled and she smiled back at him. “Your mother’s pack from the Bayou?” He asked.

“Yeah, you know them?”

“No, not really. Raf mentioned it, he’s only arrived a few days ago but already sleeping with a wolf girl from that pack.” He said it, making a disgusting look on his face.

“Classy” She followed along.

“Also, it’s full moon soon and he needed a place to change, that’s why he looked for the local pack in the first place.” He explained.

“Well that sounds better. You know the pack here is not bound to the moon. They can change freely like a hybrid. But many of them still change, the call of the moon is sometimes stronger. Sometimes even I go for a run with them when the moon is full.” Hope explained as she heard Landon’s stomach started to growl. “Are you hungry? She asked laughing.

“Yeah, I mean we slept all day and well we were pretty active all night so I’m kinda starving at this point.” He chuckled a little embarrassed.

“Come on, let’s make some breakfast. Or lunch maybe?” Hope said as she got out of the bed starting to get dressed in shorts and a baggy shirt she usually sleeps in.

“Breakfast is fine for me.” Landon added as he followed along dressing in his jeans and shirt from the previous night. “God I’m so sweaty.” Landon said smelling himself as he put his shirt on.

“We can take a shower. Maybe after we ate something.” Hope suggested. She wasn’t ready to let him go, she wanted him to stay as long as he could. Hope knew if she was letting him go she would be overwhelmed by the horrible feeling that comes when she was alone lately.

“Together?” He asked and chuckled.

“Sure” She added with her smirk.

They made pancakes together then ate it in the kitchen. They had fun together. Landon asked her many questions about their past in the Salvatore School. Hope told him about how they fought monsters together, how she was a part of the Super squad and how much she appreciated Landon that he helped her open up to him and her friends after the horrible loss of her family. She told him about their first kiss, about their first date and about their first time in greater detail. She told him about the first time they said they loved each other and that was the very last thing they did before Hope jumped into Malivore. Hope’s heart ached as she was talking about their last moments together..

“Hey, you’re ok?” Landon asked her gently as he pulled her in a hug in the kitchen as they washed their dishes after the breakfast.

“Yeah” Hope mumbled softly against his chest as they hugged.

“I’m really sorry, I have no idea what you had to go through all alone.” He stroked her gently then placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.

This was the moment she felt that she should talk about what really happened afterwards. He would listen now she was already vulnerable, she needed to do it.

“Hey Lan.” She said unsure as she got released of his hug.

“What is it?” He asked her still stroking her head with so much love in his eyes.

“How about that shower?” She chickened out. Once again. She is a coward. The fierce Hope Mikaelson. She was so disappointed in herself. At this point she wasn’t even sure if she could ever tell him about Scarlett. What a selfish coward she was. Thankfully Landon was there to take her mind off this awful self hatred with sweet shower sex.

“I’m that smelly huh. Sorry for hugging you like that.” He added.

“No, you are perfect Landon… I just want to have shower sex with you… If you’re up for it.” She giggled.

“That sounds amazing.” He chuckled.

They made sweet love in the shower then they continued it in her bed. It was like they were making up for the lost time. They couldn’t seem to let go of one another. It was late that night already. They were napping after one of many powerful orgasms. They were spooning naked, Hope melting into his body like a perfect puzzle piece. She felt his grip loosening then letting her go.

“Where are you going?” Hope turned at his direction asking him as Landon was getting off the bed.

“I’m here for like 24 hours now. I should get home.” Landon said it with sad eyes.

“Could you stay for the night?” Hope asked pouting. She was terrified of being alone again.

“I already missed my classes today.” Landon exhales loudly.

“You can leave in the morning. Just for the night. Please?” Hope pleaded. She needed his closeness.

“Fine, I’ll stay for the night. It is impossible to leave you. You know.” He said smiling and laid down next to Hope on the bed facing her.

“It is impossible to stay here alone without you.” She said pouting.

“Don’t pout I’m right here.” He captured her lips with his own. They were kissing passionately before Landon broke the kiss to speak. “And now that I found you I am not planning on letting you go ever again.” He went on to continue the kiss but Hope was stiffened at his words. She knew he would leave her as soon as the truth came out about Scarlett. That’s why she was putting this off for so long. And now, after being with him after he confessed his love for her. How could she tell him? But how could she not? She felt torn.

“Are you okay?” Landon asked noticing her sudden mood change.

“Yeah. Can we just continue cuddling? I want to fall asleep with you holding me.”

“Nothing would make me happier.” He replied as he opened his arms to embrace her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think they deserved this before the storm comes.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone reading and thank you for the nice comments, it inspires me to continue!
> 
> You'll find out why the twins are in town looking for Hope.

The next morning came too fast. Hope had a peaceful night in Landon’s embrace. He woke early in the morning, he needed to go back to his place to change before leaving for school. He gave a long passionate kiss to Hope before leaving, Hope making him promise to return that night.

After Landon left, Hope showered and got dressed in jeans and a V-neck top with a leather jacket, ready for the day. She grabbed a blood bag from the kitchen. She was pretty starved out in the past couple of days but didn’t feel like drinking blood in front of Landon and she had a good distraction anyways.

She texted Scarlett and called her before her school supposedly started. Hope wasn’t surprised that she didn’t answer. It was full moon that day, so she planned to go to see the wolves. It was a good excuse to see Scarlett. She was planning to go in the afternoon after her school was supposed to end for the day.

Then she remembered Josie and the promise she would help her. She found the business card Josie gave her and noticed that she was headmistress of the Salvatore School. She thought it really suited her. Hope wondered what happened to Alaric and Caroline. She hoped they were ok. She texted Josie and gave her, her own address. She was curious what she wanted so she texted that she was expected that morning. Hope had some time until her plans later.

In about an hour Hope’s phone was ringing.

“Hello?” Hope answered.

“Hi, it’s Josie. I’m at the place you texted me. I suspect a boundary spell is on the building.” Josie said.

“Please do not siphon it! I’ll be right there!” Hope added quickly and she ran to the door to invite her in. When she opened the door, of course Lizzie accompanied her as well.

“Hi girls, please come in.” Hope invited them.

“Thanks” Lizzie said. “So the witch is here as well?” She asked as they followed Hope to the courtyard.

“Sure Lizzie, she’s here.” Hope answered vaguely.

“How did you know I was a siphon?” Josie asked suspiciously.

“Amm..”

“I know how.” Lizzie interrupted with a giggle. Josie was looking at her with questioning eyes as Hope led them to the living room. “Come on, we haven’t seen that mopheaded elf since he walked you to your car two days ago“ She continued to giggle as she sat down on a chair.

“Oh no,Landon wouldn’t say anything about you two. Don’t worry.” Hope said reassuring as she and Josie sat on the couch. “

“There wasn’t much talking then?” Lizzie kept teasing.

“Lizzie!” Josie scolded her sister with an angry stare. “That’s not why we are here.”

“Fine, I’m sorry Hope I didn’t mean to be intrusive.” Lizzie added with slight annoyance.

“I saw your card that your name is Josette Saltzman Park and you are the head of the Salvatore school. You also mentioned you were twins, so it was not hard to guess that you are the famous siphon witches, the Saltzman twins, daughter of formal headmaster Alaric Saltzman.” Hope explained. “I wonder what happened to him.” Hope asked them. She respected Alaric, he was more than a teacher to her, he was a father figure after the loss of her parents. Hope felt bad now that she never checked on them. He was a human, anything could have happened to him.

“Our old man is okay, he retired.” Lizzie said and Hope felt relieved that he was alive and well.

“Yes, and he wanted me to take over since Lizzie lives mostly in LA nowadays. Actually our mother and I are both kinda the headmistresses in the school. She is there now, until I take care of business here in New Orleans.” Josie explained. “So, is she really coming?” Josie asked nervously.

“Why is she so important to you? What is it you are looking for?” Hope asked curiously.

“Hope, I will tell you if you could ask her to be here too okay? I’m already nervous about meeting her, I mean she is this powerful witch everyone in town is so afraid of. I just need to tell her what I need.” Josie mumbled uneasily.

“Tell me without being nervous about her presence. Ok? I will make sure she will listen to every word you say.” Hope wanted to tell Josie it was her, but she did seem really tense to meet this powerful witch. So Hope decided to try this way first.

“Ohh. She didn’t want to be bothered with us until you tell her what we want? You work for her or something?” Lizzie asked skeptically.

“or something…” Hope said.

“We haven’t been this close before so fine. I’ll tell you.” Josie added and Hope gave her a reassuring smile before she continued.

“You already know I’m a siphon witch. My sister and I are from a coven called the Gemini coven. I’m not sure if that means anything to you since technically we were the last surviving members of the coven.” Josie explained.

“Yes, I’m familiar. I know there was a higher chance of someone being born as a siphon in the Gemini coven like you two, I guess. I also heard back in the coven days they didn’t treat siphons well they condemned them as abominations.” Hope said.

“That wasn’t the case with us, we have loving parents. They never treated us any different from the other witches at school and you know they tried our whole life to save us from our faith as the last remaining Gemini twins.”

“You mean the Merge? You two had to go through with it?” Hope asked although it was obvious.

“Yeah. You know our mom was pretty distant throughout our childhood as she tried to find any possible way to stop the merge from happening. She travelled the world searching for a way in every type of magic. She talked to many powerful witches in the whole world but came up with nothing. Then a while ago we heard about this powerful witch in New Orleans. Sources say she must be the most powerful witch in existence. When I asked my mom about it, she never heard, nor did she try to find this witch in New Orleans. We found it impossible that she literally travelled the world but never heard of this witch then it kind of made sense when you mentioned Malivore.” Josie explained it further.

“But I don’t understand.” Hope answered unsure what she wanted. “You both obviously went through the merge, you are both alive. I’m not sure what else she can do for you.”

“Yeah well, it wasn’t the solution any of us wanted. We both drank vampire blood before the merge knowing one of us will die and change after. We were both terrified, honestly none of us wanted to be a vampire. We both wanted to have a family, so we let the merge decide. I still feel awful about how it happened to my sister.” Josie said with so much guilt in her eyes.

“It’s okay now really, I accepted that I’ll never have my own family.” Lizzie assured them. “I have my loving husband who is also a vampire so we will always be there for each other. The hardest part to think about is losing my sister one day to old age.” Lizzie said sadly.

“I’m really sorry you had to go through with this, but I am still not sure what you really want. If you are looking for the vampire cure you are at the wrong place.” Hope told them unsure of what she could do.

“No, we are not looking for the cure. As I said I accepted my faith as a vampire.” Lizzie told Hope.

“We are still looking for a way to stop the merge in any other way if possible. This witch is our last chance that she might know something. She is the only one our parents didn’t peruse.” Josie said to Hope who still didn’t understand why they would want to stop something that already happened. “As I said we always wanted to have a family. When I got married I knew I wanted to have children but I knew I didn’t want to have twins and go through everything we had to so first it was obvious that my wife would carry the child. That way was no chance of my screwed up genes would be inherited by our children. We tried multiple times, but she lost the baby early in the pregnancy every time. It was devastating for the both of us so we decided to try with me. We were really careful, we did IVF only letting a single egg to be implanted. But of course nature thought otherwise and the egg split. Now we have identical twin boys, facing the same future me and my sister did. So if there is any other way, we have to try. She is our last chance.” Josie said pleading.

Hope looked stunned and quite sad. She had of course no idea how to stop the merge. If she knew she would have helped out her friends years ago. She was powerful, she knew all her grandmother’s grimoires by every word. She was even better writing her own spells. But a spell like this seemed impossible. It was embedded in their genes for centuries. Erasing something like this was nearly impossible. It would be like… like erasing someone’s werewolf curse. Which was not impossible. Very tricky and hard spell. She unfortunately had to witness this spell in person when she was fifteen. The spell took her mother’s wolf nature away and eventually ended up with her death. A cold shiver ran through her spine at the thought.

“So, are you going to ask the witch if she could help?” Lizzie asked her impatiently.

“I’m sorry.” Hope inhaled and exhaled slowly. “I don’t think I can help you with this.”

“You promised you will tell her, to tell her every word.” Lizzie snapped.

“Lizzie, I heard every word.” Hope replied in a calm voice. They both seemed upset at first then they were sitting in silence digesting Hope’s last couple of words when Josie looked at Hope shocked.

“You? It’s impossible.” Josie stuttered.

“You’re a vampire not a witch.” Lizzie said.

“Yeah well, I’m a lot of things. Besides you are a vampire and a witch as well.” Hope shrugged.

“Are you a heretic as well?” Josie asked curiously.

“No, I’m not. A tribrid. Three different creatures in one. Vampire, witch and werewolf.” Hope explained.

“So that’s it. You just won’t help.” Josie asked, disappointed.

“Look Josie. I already tried okay? You don’t remember this but I looked into it and I don’t think there is a way. The only way to avoid death is to become a vampire. I don’t have any other solution either.” She still thought about the spell untying someone from the werewolf curse and how this was a curse too, something they were born with.

“There must be an other solution. I cannot accept this for my boys.” Josie shook her head in disbelief.

“So our mom already came to see you, she just doesn’t remember you? Because of the Malivore thing? That’s why you said you tried before. Right?” Lizzie asked curiously.

“I’m sure your mom came here before asking my aunt’s help. If you ask your mom, she’ll remember that. They went through all our family grimoires, there was nothing in it about your coven. And writing a spell that may or may not work would require sacrifices you cannot even comprehend right now. I looked into it because I care about you two.” Hope tried to explain.

“We knew each other before?” Lizzie asked

“So, you are saying there is a chance?” Josie interrupted Lizzie quickly.

“No, I didn’t say that. But if there was a slight chance which is probably impossible it would be more dangerous than just letting them become vampires.” Hope tried her best to clarify but she saw that Josie only focused on the word chance and she would never let that go. She was a mother and she tried everything in her power to save her children. Hope understood it. Understood the determination but she would never take a chance like this. She knew the power, a spell like this would require. It was unknown even for her, there could be devastating consequences. She would never take a chance if it was about her own child but maybe she thought that because her child’s faith was to become a vampire sooner or later. There wasn’t any other chance for her.

“But you can try?” Josie asked not letting this go.

“Josie, look. You know that magic always comes with a price and I have no idea what that price would be if I would try. You understand that?”Josie nodded with determination in her eyes. “I did know you. We grew up together in the Salvatore school. It took us some time and some bitter moments but we, the three of us actually became really good friends. I considered you as my sisters so I will try Josie, I will try for you, but I want you to truly understand the danger of this. If it was up to me if it would consider my child, I would not go through with this.” She explained but didn’t mean to slip that last part. Luckily they were focusing on other things.

“We were friends? Then why would you leave? What happened?” Lizzie asked as Josie just sat quietly digesting the information.

“It happened fifteen years ago Lizzie. I was insecure and hurt and pretty stupid for leaving like that I know. As time passed it was harder and harder to even think about any of you. I occupied myself with city business so I wouldn’t have to wallow in my past mistakes but lately it’s just all coming back to me at once.” Hope sighed and poured this on Lizzie like she was telling it to a friend. A friend she once had, the frenemies who wouldn’t stop bickering and poking at each other, the friends who would comfort each other when their anxieties got their better half. But surprisingly Lizzie just gave her a sad smile.

“You know you don’t seem to be that frightening but you must be pretty fierce if a whole city is terrified of you. Who wouldn’t want a friend like that?” Lizzie chuckled and Hope smiled at her.

Josie still seemed to be deep in her thoughts before she started to talk again not paying any attention to Lizzie or Hope’s conversation.

“I want you to try, but I need to talk to Penelope first. I’m sure she’ll be on board too. Please name your price, I will contact you soon.” She said so formally Hope didn’t know how to respond at first.

“Amm…I told you we were friends. I wouldn’t ask anything from you, but please take your time to think about it, I’m sure your boys 22 nd birthday is nowhere in the near future.” Hope said.

“Thank you for trying Hope. They are only three years old, but we have to get through this as soon as possible because the constant worry is killing me. We could be finally happy if we know for sure they didn’t have to face the merge.” Josie said as she got up heading towards the door.

Hope felt a little sad that Josie didn’t seem to be happy until this was resolved, and she wasn’t even sure that it could be done. Lizzie got up to follow her sister as Hope walked them to the gate. They said their goodbyes but before they left Lizzie turned around smiling and gave a tight hug to Hope. She jumped a little in surprise but then returned the hug and the smile.

Hope was torn about Josie's decision. She said she would think about it but technically she already decided that she wanted Hope to find a spell. Hope was honestly scared about it, scared of the unknown to break a powerful curse like this. No wonder no one tried it before, she could feel it in her guts that it would take a lot. A lot from her, from Josie and from the little twin boys as well.

Later that day, Hope was getting ready to see the wolves in the Bayou. She wanted to talk to Scarlett or at least see her if she was okay. It was the day of the full moon. Every month on this day the wolves were celebrating the moon. They would eat, drink and dance together all day in the Bayou until late at night.Then some would gather in the woods to change and they would run under the light of the moon. Hope was always invited to their celebration, but she never went. The whole pack was there including the children and all the untriggered wolves as well. She was scared before to accidentally run into Scarlett, so when she felt the need to change, she usually just went to the woods late at night to run with wolves after the celebration was over.

She arrived around 4 in the afternoon, Scarlett must be home from school by then. She went to a clearing by the water where they would gather. There was music in the air and she could smell the food being prepared by the fire. People were loud. They were laughing, dancing and just having fun. She stopped by the edge of the clearing looking around the people searching for one face. She didn’t seem to find her so she got closer to meet Abigail, who was already there talking with some other members of the pack. 

“Abigail, hi.” Hope greeted her as she stood by her.

“Hey Hope, what a surprise to see you here.” She replied. Hope smiled at her and the other people standing by Abigail. It looked like everyone was a little shocked to see Hope there. The crowd got noticeably quieter as they noticed her.

“I thought I would check out what’s all the fuss is about.” Hope smirked at the people standing there. “Please do continue your celebration, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” She said maintaining her smirk as the few people by her politely greeted her then stepped aside to keep a greater distance. Only Abigail stayed.

“You’re scaring them you know.” Abigail said, shaking her head.

“I was nice to them.” Hope continued.

“Yeah, you were also looking at them like they will be your next meal.” Abigail added. “So why are you really here?”

“I told you I just wanna see what you’re doing around here.” Hope shrugged but she was still looking around for the person she really came to see.

“She’s not here.” Abigail said. “Anyway what is going on between you two? What did you tell her that upset her so much?” She questioned Hope, who just sighed loudly. “Look I do want the two of you to get along. She will need you, your guidance. So please don’t be an ass to her.” She said.

“I’m not being an ass. I was actually nice to her.” Hope said, defending herself like she was scolded by her mother.

“Yeah well you upset her. She’s home. Talk to her, apologize to her. Her birthday is on Friday, I don’t want her to be this miserable for her big day.” The older woman said in a scolding manner.

“Sure” Hope agreed to go see her, that was the reason for her being there in the first place. “She hates me. She told you what happened?” Hope asked curiously.

“No, she doesn’t talk to me about you that much. I think she’s afraid it will hurt me to know she was interested about her origin. Every time I bring up the subject she shuts me down like she doesn’t care. Of course, I know she is curious… Just don’t hurt her. Ok?”

“It’s already too late for that. She is hurt and honestly…how can she not be.” Hope shrugged with sadness in her voice.

“You care about her. That’s more than I could ever ask for. Look she is an open minded girl. I raised her to be one. Just tell her what you need, she will understand you.” Abigail said reassuring Hope, but she started to laugh bitterly.

“She won’t. There’s no way. What I did was unforgivable.” Hope said, shaking her head.

“Hope, you were sick. I was there. There was no way you could’ve gone through with it all alone.” She tried to make Hope feel better, but it just made her much more guilty. She really didn’t have to do it alone. She wanted to tell this to Abigail, but they were interrupted.

“Hope, hey! It’s good to see a familiar face around here.” Rafael startled the two women.

“Raf, hi. What are you doing here?” Hope asked curiously when she saw a very nervous woman walking towards Rafael.

“I was invited to the full moon party then later we will turn with some of the wolves here. It’s pretty amazing they don’t have to do this every full moon. This is Annie” Raf introduced the woman who was next to her by then, and she greeted both Hope and Abigail while Rafael introduced himself to Abigail as well. Annie was pretty, in her early thirties perhaps. “She invited me” Raf explained and Hope thought that was the girl Landon was telling her about.

“I knew about this. Annie asked my permission if a friend of hers from out of town could come and turn here.” Abigail explained it to Hope, knowing she wasn’t always thrilled about mixing with the non locals.

“Oh that’s ok Abigail, Rafael is a friend.” Hope reassured both Abigail and Annie with a smile. They both seemed to be relieved by Hope’s reaction. “So you two are a thing. Huh?” Hope asked curiously.

“I mean we only met a few days ago but we are hitting it off pretty well. Right Annie?” Raf asked her with a chuckle. Annie’s face was red, she seemed to be hiding behind Raf with embarrassment. “What about you and Lan? He disappears for a full day then he comes home from your place this morning. Never seen him this happy for sure. You two must hit it off as well. If you know what I mean” He laughed and now Hope was the one embarrassed.

“Amm... you know Raf, have fun today, I really need to go now… It was nice to meet you Annie.” Hope tried to not stutter on her words.

“Okay bye Hope, It was nice to meet you Abigail.” Annie and Rafael finally left.

“So, Lan? Hmm?” Abigail wondered out loud with a smile.

“Shut up.” Hope rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna go see Scarlett then. Ok?”

“Sure sweetie, go talk to her. You coming later to turn? I think I will today.” Abigail asked Hope.

“No, not today I have some plans for later.” Hope involuntarily smiled at the thought of her plan.

“I wonder what plans would make you smile like that. Anything to do with this Lan your friend was mentioning? “ Abigail added with a teasing giggle.

“Maybe” Hope smiled at her before she left towards Abigail’s cabin.

When Hope arrived at the cabin she knocked on the door. She heard soft steps coming toward the door. When the sound stopped, Scarlett opened the door with a curious look and as soon as she saw who it was she shut it in Hope’s face.

“Seriously?” Hope frowned. She knocked again and waited. Scarlett didn’t open the door for her anymore but Hope could hear her rapid heartbeat from close to the entrance. “I’m going to come inside. I need to talk to you Scarlett!” Hope announced. There was no answer. No objection either so Hope grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it but the door bumped into something soft with a muffled sound. It was Scarlett sitting on the floor backing against the front door. “Scarlett please.” Hope pleaded as she sat down outside backing the door opposed to Scarlett. Hope took a deep breath not really sure what to do now. She won’t force Scarlett to talk to her but she decided to talk and it was up to the girl to listen.

“He’s…he’s name is Landon…Your father.” Hope stuttered, not exactly sure what to tell her. Hope listened to Scarlett’s rapid heartbeat for a while before she continued. “You know you have his hair. You can thank those crazy curls to him.” Hope chuckled lightly. “He’s pretty unique too. He’s a Phoenix. Yeah I know it sounds crazy I’m not even exactly sure what it means. Especially for you, how it affects you… I have no idea. But he is immortal like me…like you.“ Hope stayed quiet for a couple of minutes before she continued. “He is the most caring person I know. He is so patient and trusting and kind and a thousand other things I never was. He would’ve been the best dad if he ever had the chance. But he never did and you never did because of me. I regret my choice every day and I am so sorry that I took that away from you.” She inhaled then exhaled slowly wiping a single teardrop from under her eye.

“Malivore. It was a hell dimension. Anyone consumed by it was wiped out from the collective conscience. It’s a long story how I got there but I had no choice but to take a dive into the literal pit of doom. I destroyed this creature but in the process everyone’s memories were wiped clear of me. No one remembered me whatsoever. When I saw how happy my friends and Landon were without me, I decided to leave. So I came here to New Orleans the only thing I thought left of my old life was my parents’ legacy. Then a couple months later imagine my surprise when I found out I was pregnant. I wasn’t very well and your mom helped me go through with it. When you were born I asked her to adopt you. I couldn’t….I just couldn’t I’m sorry…” Hope’s tears started to fall quietly. She wiped them away, not wanting Scarlett to hear her cry. She heard Scarlett move. Then she heard steps fading away, then a loud slam of a door in the distance. Hope sat there in the silence for about 30 more minutes when she decided to go back home and leave Scarlett digest everything she told her.

Hope got home that evening emotionally exhausted. She laid down on the couch checking her phone. She got some texts from an unknown number.

‘Hey Hope, I was thinking, you and me girls night out tomorrow. You in?’

‘it’s Lizzie, got your number from my sis.’

Hope smiled. Lizzie was friendly with her and she didn’t mind. She had no intentions to push her away. She needed a friend right now.

‘Sounds good, I’m in.’ Hope texted back.

‘Great! You pick the place you know your city. I kinda wanna check out those famous vampire clubs though.’ Lizzie replied.

‘That’s sounds like plan. Come to my place around 10.’

‘See you then’ Lizzie’s text just popped up as Hope’s phone started to ring. It was Landon, she picked it up quickly.

“Hey”

“Hey, I still can’t figure out a way to get into your place.” Landon answered the phone.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry.” Hope said as she got up from the couch, threw the phone on it and ran to the main entrance to let Landon in. “Hi Landon come in.” She greeted him with a smile as she opened the door. Landon captured her lips with a kiss to greet her.

“I missed you today” He said breaking the kiss, stroking her cheeks lightly.

“I missed you too” Hope replied smiling.

“Is there any way to open that door from the outside?” Landon asked.

“It’s spelled. I’m private about my home. I’m sorry.” Hope explained.

“Oh okay. So I have to ask you every time to get in?” He asked

“No, I will do the spell for you to get in whenever you want. Let’s do it right now.”

“Are you sure?”

“I do trust you Landon, more than I trust anyone.” Hope smiled then gathered the ingredients for the spell. Hope set him down in the courtyard to perform the spell. “We are all done.”

“So you have to do this every time you want someone to enter your home regularly?” Landon asked.

“Yes, but there aren’t many I let in.” Hope shrugged.

“Yeah? How many people do you trust with your home?” He was curious.

“Well my hybrids. Five of them, but I trust them because they are sired to me.” Hope shrugged.

“Huh, sired? Like they have to do everything you tell them?” Landon looked uncertain with the idea.

“Yes, but I’m not ruthless to them or anything and they volunteered to be hybrids from my pack.” Hope explained. “You met one of them, Alex. The big scary dude guarding the compound.”

“Huh yeah I remember. So, that’s it? Five hybrids and me?” He chuckled.

“Yeah, and a girl.” Hope said quietly.

“A girl? Oh the one you were upset about because you hurt her? Your friend or something… something else?” Landon asked with slight jealousy in his voice.

“Yes, that’s the one. For the record you are the only one I am romantically interested in. I’m in love with you and nothing or no one will change that.” Hope said reassuring before he had other thoughts. He looked relieved by her words.

“Have you tried to talk to her since then? Do you think you can make it right?” He asked curiously.

“I actually talked to her today. But it was literally me talking and she sitting quietly at the other side of the wall. I really don’t think she’ll forgive me.” Hope said in a sad tone.

“At least she listened. She might come around.” Landon caressed her cheek then gave her a soft kiss trying to comfort her.

“I hope so.” Hope said with a big sigh breaking his kiss before going for it with full force.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any suggestions for Posie baby names? Maybe they'll need a name later if they are going to appear. I haven't written anything about it so far.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this is definitely not my favorite chapter. It's kind of a filler but still turned out to be pretty long, hope it's not gonna be too boring.  
> The first part will be Hizzie friendship building, I kinda like this a lot.  
> The second part is kind of a Handon fight but don't worry nothing serious. I just wanted to establish a normal relationship. No relationship is perfect. I don't really like this part of the story, I almost deleted it but I left it in anyways.

The next morning Hope woke up in Landon’s arms. She could truly get used to the feeling him in her bed every morning. It was a beautiful illusion Hope sometimes let herself wonder about.

“Morning beautiful” Landon kissed her forehead gently as she was still laying on his chest.

“Morning” She said in a tired voice looking up to his beautiful green eyes and capturing his lips with a quick soft peck.

“I wish to wake up to this beautiful sight every single day in the rest of my immortal life.” He said stroking her silky auburn hair.

“I was just thinking about something very similar.” She smiled at him with a little sadness in her eyes.

“You know what’s the best part?” He asked, looking in her blues still stroking her.

“Hmm?”

“That we never have to face the unknown alone. We could be there for each other forever. Just you and me facing immortality together.” He smiled at her with so much love in his eyes. Hope laid her head back on his heart, drawing soft circles on his chest with her fingers.

“I’d really love that.” Hope whispered knowing he would leave her soon.

They stayed there in each other’s embrace for a while before Landon had to leave for his classes. Landon was sitting on the bed trying to say his goodbye to Hope. She sat by him giving him a long passionate kiss before he broke it to leave.

“Do you have to leave? Can you just stay today please?” Hope pleaded with a pout and huge begging eyes. She hated when he left, she was afraid he'd never come back to her.

“Are you gonna do this every morning? I can’t leave if you look at me like that. Besides I’ll be back tonight, I promise.” Landon surely noticed how hard it was for Hope to let go.

“I have plans for tonight, to go clubbing with Lizzie.” Hope said in a sad tone. She wanted to meet her but at this moment she just wanted Landon’s closeness.

“Lizzie? Seriously? You getting along? That’s pretty awesome.”

“Yes. I hope we are. I really hope we could be friends. But I selfishly want to cancel and spend the night with you.”

“Don’t cancel. I’m sure you’ll have fun with her. How about I’ll come back tomorrow then. I won’t have any classes.” He assured her.

“Yeah that sounds good. I have a thing in the afternoon so please come as early as you can.” She smiled and gave him another long passionate goodbye kiss before he left.

After Landon left Hope spent the morning training with the hybrids and she painted in the afternoon. She texted Scarlett and asked if she was all right, but she never got any reply, no surprise to Hope. Scarlett’s birthday was in two days and Hope really hoped that she could see her that day, she had a special gift for her.

In the evening Hope started to get ready for the night with Lizzie. She was going to the vampire club so she needed to look somewhat fierce. She wore tight black pants with a black silky top. She put her hair in a high ponytail and applied strong makeup with dark red lipstick. Finally she put on her high heels and black leather jacket. Around 10pm Lizzie texted that she was waiting for her outside. Hope grabbed a small purse, put her phone in it and headed to the gate to see Lizzie.

“Hi Lizzie” Hope greeted her with a smile.

“Hope, hey. Wow you clean up nicely.” Lizzie giggled.

“Thanks, you look really nice too.” Hope smiled.

“So where exactly are we going? Also, tell me everything about these clubs. MG is still home in LA, I could never go to places like this with him. You know he has some trouble with human blood. Also my sister would be totally pissed if she knew where we were going.” She laughed.

“There’s a place not far, we can walk. It won’t be that crowded on Wednesday night, but there are always tourists that want to have a fun night.” Hope smirked at that. “It’s not that bad. You have fun, you drink dance like in a normal club. But if you get hungry, you can feed on the tourists. No killing whatsoever, you need to heal them afterwards then compel them to forget the feeding part. Easy.” Hope shrugged.

“You go there often?” Lizzie asked curiously.

“Honestly, not as much as I’d like to. I go when I’m really tired of the blood bags.” She said with a shrug.

“I got that. I have to be ok with the disgusting animal blood. God it’s awful, but I love my man, I only stray when he’s not around.” Lizzie giggled.

“Oh god I could never drink that. My deepest condolences.” Hope laughed with her.

They were laughing, talking and just having fun on the way to the club. When they arrived, a huge vampire bouncer let them in nervously when he saw Hope. They walked into the club, there were a lot of vampires and humans as well. The music was loud. They sat down to a comfy couch at the VIP area then someone from the bar brought them many kinds of alcohol shots on a silver platter and asked if they wanted anything else.

“They just bring you free drinks?” Lizzie asked, astonished.

“Yeah, but go ahead take advantage of the situation, order whatever you want.” Hope chuckled.

“Oh I’m fine with these shots for now.” She grabbed one. “Cheers”

“Cheers.” Hope took a glass and poured down the liquid on her throat. “So, you and MG. Married? How did that happen?” She asked.

“I just realized how perfect he is for me. I didn’t even realize when I fell in love, it just happened and I’m really happy with him. Wouldn’t want to spend my immortal life with anyone else but him.” Lizzie said as she had the biggest smile on her when she was talking about her husband.

Hope smiled too, Lizzie was so sweet how she talked about MG, although her thoughts quickly sailed to their conversation with Landon from that morning when they talked about their immortal life together and her smile froze just for a moment but enough for Lizzie to notice.

“What is it? Too mushy for the big bad of New Orleans?” Lizzie asked teasingly as she took another shot.

“No, of course not. I mean a little… but I’m really happy for you two. Cheers to you and MG then.” Hope said as she grabbed another shot.

“Now you’re gonna talk. What’s going on with you and that mophead? Please tell me he didn’t spend last night with that annoying ex girlfriend of his.”

“Why? Do you think there’s still something between them?” Hope asked curiously. She hated the jealous feeling creeping in. But she and Landon didn’t really talk about exes. She asked about it when he told her they broke up but nothing really since.

“No, I don’t think so. She came to our place yesterday afternoon to talk to Landon. They talked for a while. Then later he left for the evening.” Lizzie explained.

“Oh…He came to see me yesterday evening. We spent the night together but didn’t really mention the ex.” Hope said with uncertainty. He probably didn’t mention because there was nothing to mention. Still Hope felt a bitterness in her guts.

“Thank god! I like you much better. I know it hasn’t been that long, but it's like you and Landon are made for each other.” Lizzie added with a reassuring smile, probably noticing Hope's jealous expression. It did make Hope feel better a little bit.

“We are actually really happy together. To be honest we had been together in high school…we were actually in love…but you know he forgot I existed.” Hope said bitterly.

“Are you serious? Oh my God that’s horrible. I’m so sorry.” Lizzie said shocked. “But you know you really were stupid then to leave.” She shrugged.

“I know, I really was. Cannot even imagine how different my life would be if I wasn’t such a coward. But I convinced myself that everyone was better off without me. Landon was with Josie and they just seemed perfectly happy together and I didn’t want to be the one ruining something good” Hope shrugged.

“I’m really sorry for that Hope, but I don’t think anyone was better off without you. Especially not Landon. He went from one hopeless relationship to another. Literally Hopeless.” She laughed at the stupid pun and Hope just rolled her eyes then she started to laugh too.

“You want something to eat?” Hope asked with a smirk.

“Thought you never ask.” Lizzie chuckled.

They gulped down one more shot, then made their way to the dance floor. They were dancing together for a while when two humans made their way to them to ask the girls for a dance. They giggled as they accepted the dance. Hope danced with the guy for a while, when saw Lizzie already sinking her fangs into the guy’s neck. Hope smirked then leaned in and bit deep into her dance partner’s pulse point. She felt the warm coppery liquid running down her throat. She loved the feeling of drinking straight from the vein. It felt much more satisfying than her blood bags. When she felt the poor boy’s legs tremble, she finished feeding on him. Hope bit her own wrist and shoved the blood into his mouth before he could realize what happened to him. Then Hope looked deep into his eyes and compelled him to forget everything that just happened. The guy totally healed and kept dancing on the floor like it was the best night of his life. She looked over to Lizzie, who was also done with her guy. Lizzie and Hope danced together for a while, and didn't let anyone else bother them anymore. Later, they walked back to their couch and ordered some more drinks.

“This was awesome. I miss human blood so fucking much.” Lizzie complained with a laugh.

“You know, you could stay in New Orleans and maybe then we could have a girls night like this more often.” Hope shrugged.

“You like me.” Lizzie giggled.

“Well I don’t hate you.” Hope rolled her eyes. “I actually had fun with you tonight.” She admitted it.

“I had fun with you too, but MG has this big record company in LA, and I have to go back to him eventually. I’m only here to support my sister. And I really miss my husband, it has been too long.” She smiled and Hope too.

“You can always visit me here Lizzie. And MG too, I really want to see him, I missed all of you.” Hope smiled.

“Umm… I was wondering, you know. Have you ever tried to find a spell or something to return the lost memories?” Lizzie asked Hope in a serious tone. “I mean if you are willing to try to help my nephews. There must be a way. Right?” She asked.

“Honestly I never tried. At first, I was heartbroken, that’s when I came here to start a new life with the determination of taking over the city. Then… I just… I found out something that made me too depressed to do anything about it.” Hope was struggling how to tell Lizzie about her pregnancy. For a moment she felt like she could tell her, she was her friend and would understand her struggles. Then she realized that even though they had fun tonight Lizzie still barely knew her. She just shook her head before she continued. “Then it was all about the city. It distracted me for a long time, I thought I was happy being alone and accepted that no one from my old life will remember me. Honestly, I was more terrified of everyone remembering me. I didn’t really want to find a spell, so I never tried.” Hope shrugged as she explained.

“Well, then. Until you work on my sister’s dilemma, I will try to work on yours and find a spell to return our memories of you. How’s that sound?” She asked genuinely.

“You would do that?” Hope asked, honestly surprised.

“Of course. But mostly because you will never do it yourself. I can see it in your eyes that you’re still terrified.” Lizzie said sincerely.

“I’d love to see the recognition in you or in Landon’s eyes, I really do but it is terrifying to think about. He’ll look at me differently, he will remember what he lost, he will remember that I left. Even though he knows this, it will be different and I’m not sure he can forgive me once he’ll remember.”

“He will forgive you Hope, I am sure about that.” Lizzie tried to assure her.

“Yeah, well… he will definitely not if I ever tell him what really happened.” Hope said with sadness in her eyes.

“Why? What really happened?” Lizzie asked but Hope just shrugged. “Fine don’t tell me but you can talk to me. Ok? I know you were fine alone all these years, but you don’t have to be anymore. I will do my research on memory spells and we’ll see how we go from there.” She smiled and lightly punched Hope’s arm. Hope smiled at her silently thanking her kindness.

They were talking, drinking and dancing all night. They both had a fun night. Hope got home at dawn. She was exhausted and went to bed in her clothes. She fell asleep immediately.

Hope woke to soft lips pressed against her temple. She could sense who it was before opening her eyes and smiled.

“Morning sunshine. I can see you had a fun night. You smell like booze.” Landon said as Hope opened her eyes and captured his lips with her own. “And taste like it.” He said as he broke away.

“I’m sorry, I’ll go wash up.”

“I don’t really care, I love you anyway. He kissed her back passionately.”

“I really need to take a shower, I’m gross.” She broke the kiss. “I’ll be done shortly.”

“How about I make breakfast until you’ll get ready?”

“Sounds good.” Hope smiled and gave him one last alcohol tasting kiss before she left for the bathroom.

After a quick shower, Hope dressed in black leggings and a white V neck shirt. She left her damp hair loose, letting it air dry. She ran downstairs to Landon who was just about to be done with breakfast.

“Smells good in here.” Hope entered the kitchen and walked towards Landon. He was standing at the stove still working on some eggs and bacon. She hugged him from behind. Landon turned around to return her embrace as he kissed her forehead.

“How was your night with Lizzie?” Landon asked while he returned to prepare the food.

“It was really fun. I’m really glad to have her back in my life. We actually talked a lot. She said she would help find a spell to get everyone’s memories back.” Hope said as she set the breakfast table up with plates and stuff.

“That would be great! I just want to remember every memory we shared. Sometimes it feels like you are talking about someone else’s life.” Landon said.

“Yeah. It would be great.” Hope said as she took a deep breath.

“What’s that about? You don’t want me to remember you?” He asked, uncertainly.

“Of course I want you to remember. I just… don’t know…what would be your reaction…” She stuttered, trying to find her words about her insecurities about him leaving her.

“Look, whatever happens I will love you, always. Ok?” Landon reassured her as he gave her a loving hug.

“Ok. I will love you too. Always and forever.” Hope smiled, not using these terms in a long time and she placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I wanted to ask you about something.” She said unsure as Landon set the food in the two plates on the table then they both sat down to eat.

“What is it?”

“It’s about Claire. Is everything over between the two of you?”

“Yes, Hope, of course. I would never cheat, I would never do that. What brought this on?” Landon seemed annoyed by Hope’s question that she would even assume something like that.

“I know that, I’m sorry. It’s just Lizzie mentioned that she went to your place and you talked, and we never really talked about her or what really happened or any other relationships at all.” Hope mumbled hoping he won’t be mad.

“She just dropped off some of my stuff.” Landon said briefly, still slightly annoyed. Hope just nodded.”I mean we were together for over 7 months she said she was still willing to try to work things out but obviously I want to be with you Hope.” He explained.

“Oh.” Hope felt anxious. She clearly heard that Landon chose her but still Claire was going after Landon and it made her feel extremely jealous.

“You wanna talk about relationships? We can start with you.” He said but his tone still bothered Hope.

“I didn’t really have any relationships, Landon so not much to tell.” Hope shrugged.

“In fifteen years you had no relationships whatsoever.” Landon said in disbelief. Hope shook his head. “What about James? I’m sure you didn’t play cards all night long in his bedroom the first day we met.”

“Sex is not relationship Landon and I thought you were not judging for that.” Hope snapped.

“Well I only have sex in a relationship so I’m sorry if I slightly judge your wild life choices.” He snapped back.

“I’m sorry my life choices are bothering you that much. But you know it’s not so easy to get close to people when first your whole family drops dead because of you then all of the remaining people in your life forgot about your whole existence. So no Landon, I never had any relationships, no boyfriends, no girlfriends, and no friends whatsoever. So sometimes I found lonely losers like James to at least ease the physical tension I had.” Hope yelled at him. There was a long silence before Landon started to talk.

“Huh. I guess we just had our first fight.” Landon said, seemingly calmed down but Hope still looked heated over their conversation. “Ok. I’m sorry I snapped at you when you asked about my ex and I’m sorry I judged you. Maybe we both could be a little more understanding.” Landon tried to reason.

“Sure.” Hope said. “I’m sorry I even questioned your relations with Claire and it's fine if you don’t want to talk about it I get it.” Hope shrugged.

They ate the breakfast in silence. Hope felt awful about their fight. She knew it might be a touchy subject but they should be able to talk about these things. And Landon judging her life choices… that hurt. If he was this upset about little things like having sex with strangers how is he going to react to the choice she made about Scarlett. She was sure he would leave her and she was sure he was going to make it hurt and she would deserve it. The familiar feeling of guilt and self hatred was taking over her. She took several deep breaths to help ease this horrid feeling. She couldn’t take one more bite of her breakfast.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Landon said and took Hope’s hand on the table squeezing it tight. He knew for sure by now that Hope’s biggest insecurity was him leaving her. “As you said, always and forever. I mean it, Hope.”

“Don’t say promises you won’t keep.” Hope got up from the table and walked out of the kitchen. He was just trying to comfort her as he always did. Why did he have to be so perfect all the time, even when they fight? Hope went upstairs to her bedroom. Landon didn’t follow her. She laid down on her bed, didn’t know what to do. She wished someone would just tell her what to do in this situation. Then she thought of Lizzie. She grabbed her phone and dialed her number.

“You already miss me? That’s sweet Hope, but I was still sleeping.” Lizzie answered the phone.

“I’m sorry to wake you but it's like 11 in the morning so don’t complain.” Hope said.

“Yeah well, I hope you didn’t forget that I just got home in the morning.”Lizzie complained.

“You’ll live, you’re a vampire.”

“So what do I owe the pleasure?” Lizzie asked.

“Landon’s here. We had kind of a fight and I have no idea what to do.” Hope cried.

“What happened? Spill.”

“I brought up her ex and asked him if there was still something going on…because of what you said you know.” Hope started to explain.

“Hey, don’t get me into your fight! I just said she came over, never said there was something going on between them.” She snapped.

“I know that! I’m sorry, but still… I felt so jealous, but he snapped at me. Then I suggested that we should talk about what happened with him and Claire or if he wanted to share any other relationship he had, I was going to listen. Then he just got mad at me and attacked my life choices. He apologized and I did too but it is still weird between us. What do you think I should do?”

“If you both apologized that’s good, but you still need to talk about it. Landon is the definition of a good guy. Ok? You know he would never hurt you and if it was something important he would tell you. Don’t pity yourself alone in your room when he is right there ready to talk to you.”

“Yeah ok.”

“Good? Now go, leave me alone, I need more sleep.

“Thanks for listening Lizzie.”

“I told you, anytime.”

She hung up the phone. Hope laid there for a couple of minutes gathering her thoughts to talk to Landon. She was about to get up, when heard him knocking on the door.

“Come in Landon.” Hope said, still laying on the bed.

“Hey. You ok?” He asked.

“Sure, I’m sorry I snapped.” Hope apologized and gestured to Landon to lay down next to her on the bed.

“You wanna talk about it?” He asked as he laid next to her and took her in his arms.

“I just wanna cuddle you.” Hope said, settling in his arms.

“Ok, then I’ll talk. Claire and I, we were ok you know. We got along really well, understood each other, it was a pretty good relationship. But then I saw you and I couldn’t stay away. I know we were just friends but my thoughts about you were not so friendly.” He chuckled a little. “So at that point I thought you were in love with this other guy who forgot about you so I knew I had no chance. Of course I didn’t know it was me. But I still couldn’t stop thinking about you, so I broke up with her because I was interested in you Hope. We were never in love or anything and I know she didn’t love me either but it was still a long time and when she came to see me, she asked if there was any chance for us. I told her no and that I started to see someone else.” Landon explained.

“I feel bad for her now that you left her for me. But I kinda love you for it.” Hope said it against his chest where she was laying now.

“And I’m sorry you have these issues because you were alone for all these years and you feel like everyone is going to leave you, but I promise…”

“No, please do not promise.” Hope interrupted him.

“But I have no intentions on leaving you Hope.” Landon tried to assure her but Hope didn’t want to hear it so quickly changed the subject.

“Can we have sex now?” She untangled herself from Landon’s arm, got on top of him and started to kiss him passionately.

“So that’s your solution to problems?” Landon asked, breaking the kiss. Hope sat up straddling him and smirked as she removed her top. “Yeah fine, I agree it’s a good solution.” He kissed her back with force and they spent hours making love in Hope’s bed.

Later in the afternoon Hope had to go to her monthly meeting with the faction leaders. She rather spent the whole day with Landon in bed, but couldn’t abandon her duties. Landon had some stuff to manage too so they parted for the afternoon but he would be back for the night. The meeting went well, the witches were a little worried about the strange witches. Hope knew that it was Lizzie now and she assured them that she took care of the problem. They didn’t really ask much more about it. They actually selected a number of people from every faction to work alongside the humans in the public sectors. After the meeting Hope wanted to talk to Abigail, so she asked her to stay in the church after the others left.

“I just wanted to ask how Scarlett was doing. I talked to her but I don’t think she wants to hear from me.” Hope said, concerned.

“Just give her some time. She’ll come around.” Abigail assured her.

“I just really wanted to see her on her birthday.” Hope said honestly.

“Hey, come by tomorrow for dinner, I’ll bake and everything it’ll be fun just the three of us.” Abigail suggested.

“If you really think she’ll be ok with it.”

“We’ll wait for you sweetheart.” Abigail smiled then left the church.

When Hope returned home, she was still thinking about the dinner happening next day. She was really nervous about it. She went upstairs to her room and grabbed a tiny box from her closet. She opened it and smiled when she saw her mother’s necklace inside. It was a silver crescent moon hugging a green stone called Moss Agate. The necklace was a wedding gift to her mother. The stone was Hayley’s mineral totem as she was born under the planting moon, just like Scarlett. Hope got the necklace when she was fifteen…well she sort of took it from her mother’s grave but maybe she won’t tell that to Scarlett, when she’ll give her the necklace on her birthday. This little thing meant a lot to Hope so she hoped that Scarlett would like it. She closed the box and placed it to her nightstand. Then she changed to her paint stained clothes and entered the art room. She was lost in her painting for hours. She put down her brush then realized how late it was. She listened carefully and heard movement inside her house. She rushed towards the noise, and found Landon in the library.

“Oh my god Landon, I am so sorry. I hope you didn’t wait for too long.” Hope apologized. She totally lost track of time.

“Don’t worry I found this library and totally distracted me. It’s pretty amazing. I didn’t mean to snoop around I was just trying to find you then find this place instead and kinda stuck here.” Landon said as he stood up from an armchair he was reading in walking toward Hope.

“Okay then, sorry I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.” She smiled and hugged Landon tightly.

“You missed me that much huh? We just saw each other a few hours ago.” He said, returning the hug.

“Few hours too long.” Hope stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the lips. He returned it passionately.

“Oh god! What did you do to me?” Landon asked jumping back. Hope startled for a moment, thinking she hurt him or something when she saw paint smeared over Landon’s clothes and face.

“I’m so sorry! I forgot to wash up.” She felt bed then noticed Landon smiling and she started to laugh.

“You know I’m patiently waiting for you to show me your paintings.” He smiled.

“Maybe I will, soon you just need to stay patient.” She grabbed his face and kissed him passionately.

“You’re so sexy in your paint stained clothes.”He said, breaking the kiss as he slipped a hand under her shirt sliding it all the way up to grab one of her breasts. “and so sexy with paint markings all over your perfect skin.” He placed soft kisses all over her jaw line making his way to her neck while still playing with her breast. She breathed rapidly. When he stopped his kisses and started sucking on her pulse point she moaned loudly. “God! I wanna take you right here.” Landon said braking away from her neck.

“Please do!” Hope moaned and that’s all she could say before Landon took her on top of the library desk.

After they finished in the library, they walked to Hope’s room where they continued their love making. After hours of fun they cuddled on the bed Landon stroking the soft skin on her back while she was lying on his chest holding him tight.

“You know I never told you why I came to New Orleans in the first place.” Landon said.

“Yeah? Wasn’t for college?” Hope asked, still laying on his chest with eyes closed enjoying his gentle touch.

“Yes, of course but I could’ve finished it in Virginia. I transferred because I think I found something here…or rather a someone.” He said gently, still stroking her.

“Who did you find?” She asked against his chest.

“No one really… I asked Lizzie some time ago to do a lineage spell to find my mother.” Hope opened her eyes suddenly. She just realized that Landon didn’t remember her mother. She jumped into Malivore and she probably died when Hope destroyed Malivore. Landon didn’t remember Hope either so he must not remember their fight about it. Shit now she had to tell him that his mother was dead. “ Lizzie found something like someone blood related to me here in New Orleans. She said it was very faint and disappeared quickly. She said they are probably cloaked or something. I don’t know… it could be my mother or a sibling so that’s why I really choose to study here. I haven’t found anything though and Lizzie tried the spell here but nothing came up so they probably not even here anymore… I don’t know its stupid maybe but I thought I might have some family.” Landon explained.

Hope froze. She couldn’t move. She of course knew who Landon found. He didn’t have any siblings, not anymore since Clark also died inside Malivore and Saylah was dead too. It was Scarlett. Her bracelet not only suppressed her magic but it cloaked her too. Lizzie must have found her the first time, when she took it off maybe to take a shower or something. She said she even sleeps in the damn thing. Hope just laid there frozen and speechless. Her heart was pounding crazy in her chest. What if Lizzie would do another spell when her bracelet was off? She could find her now that they were in the city.

“You are quiet.” Landon interrupted her spiraling thoughts. “You know I wouldn’t ask anything from you and Josie told me that you’ll help her with her boys and obviously that is a priority. But since you are such a big deal you know… maybe you could look into it… maybe you could find something that Lizzie didn’t see.” He said unsure. Hope sat up and pulled him up too. She looked into his eyes.

“Look Landon. There’s something I honestly didn’t even think of mentioning. I somehow thought you already knew. Please forgive me for this but umm… you’re mother died a long time ago.” She took a deep breath and saw Landon’s uncertain look in his eyes. “Umm… Saylah jumped into Malivore, she did it to save you Landon. You two actually met once, you found her. But I think when Malivore was destroyed she was destroyed with all the monsters he consumed over the years. I’m really sorry I had to tell you this.” Hope explained.

Landon looked shocked and sad. He didn’t say a word. He laid back on the bed. Hope returned to her previous position too. He kept stroking her back like before. They didn’t say anything for the rest of the night. Eventually the strokes stopped and Hope heard his steady breathing and heartbeat taking over. He fell asleep. Hope followed along falling asleep in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About Hayley's necklace. I literally wrote down what Jackson said when he gave it to her. I have no clue what it means though I figured it's kinda like a birthstone. I have no idea when Hayley's birthday was and it might not make sense with the timeline but please ignore it then... Thank you!


	12. Chapter 12

It was a beautiful morning. Hope woke to the bright sun warming her face through the window. She turned to Landon who was still sleeping next to her in the bed. He was so peaceful, beautiful even. She was staring at his curls spilling over his closed eyes and his full kissable lips. She couldn’t contain herself and dug her hand through his hair and pressed a gentle peck on his soft lips. Landon shivered then his eyes flew open at her touch.

“Sorry I woke you.” She said in a gentle voice running her fingers through his hair.

“I’m not. It’s the best possible way to be awakened.” He said then grabbed Hope and pulled her close to his own body to kiss her right. She broke the kiss looking into his beautiful green eyes.

“You ok?” She asked after everything she told him the night before about his mother.

“Yeah. I honestly don’t know how I feel about this. I’m not mourning her, I didn’t even know her.” He shrugged. “. I just thought maybe one day I would see the women who gave birth and abandoned me on the same day. I just wanted to see where I came from and face her once and ask why she did it. But apparently, I already did.”

“I’m really sorry. If Lizzie and I found a viable memory spell, I will try to get your memories back about her, I promise.” She said and captured his lips once more kissing it tenderly. He kissed her back gently. They laid in each other’s embrace for a little while. Landon didn’t have classes in the early morning so they had a little more time to spend with one another.

She felt so peaceful in his arms. It was perfect. Really a perfect start of the day. Then she remembered what day it was. It was Scarlett’s birthday. Fifteen years ago, she was born right there in that very room where she cuddled Landon peacefully. Hope was the opposite of peaceful back then. It was a painful day for her. She would do so many things differently now but back then it seemed impossible to do anything at all. She was depressed and alone. She remembered the agony and pain overwhelmed her every time she had a single thought of Landon or the idea of a possible motherhood. She was terrified of the thought of seeing Landon without the recognition in his eyes. She was terrified of rejection. She was terrified of being a mother and ruining an innocent life. It was the hardest day of her life.

“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?” Landon asked as he caressed her face gently.

“I was just thinking how peaceful this moment is with you. I could’ve avoided so much heartache if I just came forward that night in Mystic Falls and told you everything. Sometimes life was really painful alone, without you.” Hope said locking her arms so tightly around him, he could barely breathe.

“Yeah, I’m sorry you didn’t tell us everything and I’m really sorry you had to be alone. But I’m here now and even if I’ll never remember our past I will love you Hope, forever.” He said as he pressed a kiss on her forehead.

“I love you too Landon Kirby. Always and forever.” She said it as she looked up into his eyes. They kissed, then made love that morning before Landon had to leave for his classes.

Later that day Hope finished her painting she was working on lately. It was a smaller painting picturing two white wolves running in the forest under the moonlight and a bird with fiery wings flying over the trees watching over the wolves. When she was done she spelled the painting that the moon would always change to its real life current state. She made the painting for Scarlett. Hope dried the painting with magic then she wrapped it in paper. After she got ready for the evening, she grabbed the little box from her nightstand where she left it, and put it in her purse. She grabbed the painting as well, got in her car and left for the dinner with Scarlett and Abigail.

She was quite nervous, she didn’t speak with Scarlett in almost a week. Hope talked to her a couple of days ago but she never responded. She just really hoped that she was ok after everything and hoped they could have a nice peaceful dinner.

Hope knocked on the door, and Abigail opened it.

“Hi sweetheart, come on in!” She invited her in with a hug.

“Hi, it smells really good in here.” Hope smiled and looked around in the house.

“I made some gumbo. Come sit down on the couch, I let her know you’re here.” Abigail said as she led Hope to the living room and left to get Scarlett probably from her bedroom.

Hope sat down and placed the painting next to her on the couch. She really didn’t want to listen but heard Scarlett argue with Abigail and couldn’t stop herself from prying. They were trying to talk quiet but unfortunately Hope heard everything clearly with her vampire ears. Scarlett didn’t want her there. She said she wouldn’t leave her room until Hope was there. Abigail tried nicely then she tried to bribe her. She wouldn’t come out of her room. She said it was the worst birthday she ever had and she never wanted Hope in her life. She said she was stupid to go to Hope in the first place and she never wanted to see her again.

Hope felt awful for even being there. She didn’t want her to have a bad day because of her. It was hurting her but it wasn’t about her. She just wanted to leave now. She got up from the couch when Abigail returned with Scarlett by her side. Hope heard Abigail bribe her to come out or she couldn’t go celebrate her birthday with her friends on the next day as they planned. So Hope guessed that worked on her. Hope looked at her and saw sadness and anger in her eyes. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come.” Hope said apologetically.

“Nonsense, I invited you. You should be here.” Abigail said and Scarlett rolled her eyes at that.

“No mom, she shouldn’t have come. Why would you even invite her to MY birthday without MY consent?” Scarlett asked irritated.

“Look, I leave if you don’t want me here. I’m really sorry, I didn’t want to ruin your day.” Hope said. Abigail just shook her head and couldn't even say a word. Scarlett just gave her a look to go.

“Just one more thing and I leave.” Hope continued as she grabbed the box from her purse. “Amm… that’s a painting, it’s for you…” she stuttered as she was pointing at the wrapped painting sitting on the couch then she opened the box. “And this is something I got from my mother when I was fifteen. It was hers and…

“You’re not my mother so don’t give me your stupid jewelry.” Scarlett interrupted her with anger. Abigail scolded her loudly.

“I know that but I still wanted to give this to you. You see this stone is a moss agate, it’s your mineral totem as you were born under the planting moon. Just like my mom, so I thought it should be yours.” Hope said quickly. She wanted to leave now, she was hurt but she knew Scarlett was hurting more and she was the cause. “Happy birthday Scarlett.” She said as she gave her the box. Scarlett was holding it in her hands as Hope turned to the door to leave. She looked at Abigail, who gave her an apologetic look. Hope closed the door behind herself and took a deep breath. She was walking away, when heard the cabin door opening. It was Scarlett. Hope started to walk back towards her, and smiled at Scarlett. Hope saw the necklace in her hand.

“I told you I don’t want your stupid jewelry!” And she threw the necklace in the dirt, slamming the door disappearing inside the house.

Hope walked where she threw the necklace. She saw it shining on the ground. She fell to her knees right next to the shining jewelry. She picked it up slowly holding the stone between her thumb and forefinger. She rubbed it as she did so many times for comfort in the past when she was wearing it. She felt like a piece of her mother was always with her. She felt hot tears running down her face. She started sobbing. She wasn’t mad at Scarlett, she understood her anger. She didn’t even have a full week to process everything she learned. Hope would understand if she never forgave her. Hope wasn’t sure how long she stayed on the dirty ground outside sobbing. She finally got up still holding the necklace tightly. She walked down to her car and got in. She was sitting in it for a while trying to fully calm herself.

As she was sitting there, she heard her phone buzzing. She grabbed it and saw Landon’s messages pop up. He was at Hope’s place looking for her. Hope wanted him so badly but she still wasn’t ready to talk to him about Scarlett and right now she needed to tell someone… she didn’t even think about it and dialed Lizzie.

“Hope! Ready for another party? Lizzie picked up the phone giggling. Hope took a loud breath. “Is everything okay?” Lizzie asked sincerely.

“Do you think you could come over to my place? I really need to talk to someone.” Hope asked her nervously.

“Umm... sure Hope. You okay?” She asked with concern.

“Not really. I just need to talk to you please.” Hope pleaded.

“Yeah, I’m leaving right now. See you in a bit.”

Hope hung up the phone and texted Landon that she’ll have another girl’s night with Lizzie.

Hope arrived at the compound the same time as Lizzie. Landon already left. Lizzie looked concerned when she saw Hope. Hope knew that she needed to tell this, it was weighing on her too heavy but wasn’t sure how to start.

“Can I offer you something to drink?” Hope asked Lizzie.

“Let’s have something strong.” Lizzie smiled.

Hope led her to the living room. Lizzie sat on the couch while Hope poured some whisky in two glasses then settled next to Lizzie. They were sipping on their drinks in silence.

“It’s really fun sitting here with you, drinking at like 10pm but I’m sure that’s not the reason I’m here.” Lizzie said in her bitchy tone. When she saw Hope fidgeting nervously with the glass in her hand she changed her tone. “Look Hope, whatever it is, you can talk to me. Ok?” She said softly.

Hope poured down the rest of the dirk on her throat and placed the glass on the coffee table. She turned to Lizzie slowly and stared at her for a long time before she started to talk.

“Look Lizzie, no one knows about this so please be discreet about what I’m gonna tell you.” Lizzie nodded and looked at Hope with wide eyes. “When I came to New Orleans fifteen years ago I….umm…I was pregnant. Umm… it was Landon’s.” Hope just shrugged as a single tear fell from her eye. She never told this to anyone. Obviously Abigail knew but no one else and it felt so good to tell Lizzie, so liberating. However Lizzie was going to react at this moment Hope felt lighter than ever.

“You mean you have a kid? And Landon? What? How?” Lizzie said as she was trying to process the information.

“I found out a couple months after I left Mystic Falls.” Hope said.

“You actually had Landon’s baby?” Lizzie was still processing, Hope just nodded. “Does he know?” She asked and Hope shook her head.” You mean you never told him?” She was getting upset now.

“It wasn’t that easy Lizzie, he didn’t know who I was. He didn’t even remember you know…making the baby.” Hope explained.

“That’s bullshit Hope and you know that!” Lizzie snapped at her “ Where the hell is the kid now?”

“In the Bayou. I just went to see her today. It’s her birthday, she’s fifteen.” Hope said, tears burning her eyes.

“She doesn’t live with you?” Lizzie said more quietly in total disbelief. Hope shook her head and felt the judgment in Lizzie’s voice. She felt self-conscious now she felt like it was a mistake to tell her. She should’ve kept her mouth shot. But it was eating her from the inside out.

“It…it was…” she tried to say something between her tears.

“It wasn’t that easy right? Well no shit Hope… having a baby is not easy. But to lie about it? Then what… you abandoned her? Your own baby? When you know exactly how Landon feels about that…”

Hope was sobbing now. She didn’t think she had left any in her after the breakdown in the bayou today. But here she was breaking all over again.

“I…I was…so alone.” She tried to say something between her sobs, but couldn't say anything else. She needed to calm down, she really did. Then she felt Lizzie’s arms around her.

“Just let it all out.” She said as she hugged her tightly and let Hope cry herself out on her shoulders.

Hope let Lizzie go when she felt she was able to contain herself better.

“This doesn’t mean I’m not mad. Landon is my friend Hope and he is such a good guy, he doesn’t deserve this. Now, explain.” Lizzie said in her usual tone which made Hope fill much better.

“When I found out I panicked Lizzie. Literally… I had his overwhelming panic attack. It was so scary, I didn’t know what to do. Then it started to happen every time I had a bad thought… like what if Landon rejects me and the baby or what if I’m gonna screw up his baby. It was awful Lizzie, I was sick all the time. I felt weak and pathetic. I wasn’t able to tell Landon… I couldn’t. When she was born she was so weak. I could barely keep her alive while she was inside me. I didn’t want to ruin her, hurt her more than I did. I didn’t want her to be anything like me. The wolf alpha, she helped me out. She was the only person who knew about my baby and she agreed to adopt her. She lives there with the alpha since then.” Hope tried her best to explain between her silent tears.

“She knows you’re her mom?” Lizzie asked with a sad expression.

“Yeah, but she made it clear I am not her mom…so…” Hope just shrugged.

“She's mad at you?”

“It’s understandable. She should be mad at me, she should hate me… She’s mad because of Landon. She thought her father left her too…when I told her he doesn’t even know, she snapped at me and doesn’t talk to me since.”

“Hmmm… You know you need to tell Landon. They should have a chance to get to know each other.” Lizzie said.

“I know. I want to tell him, but… we are in such a good place right now. I love him and he loves me even though he barely knows me. And sex is so fucking amazing with him. I just need him for a little while before he leaves me.” Hope whined.

“Oh God you are impossible. And please tell me you are being careful not making anymore babies.” Lizzie frowned at Hope.

“I’m a vampire Lizzie.” Hope stated the obvious.

“Sure… So your father wasn’t a vampire when he conceived you?”She asked teasingly.

“Well it won’t happen to me, I am careful Lizzie.” Hope rolled her eyes.

“You still have to tell Landon about his kid. Promise me you tell him.”

“I will, I promise. I swear I’m planning to tell him.” She really was planning for a while now, but somehow it was never the right time.

“Ok then. And how are you? These panic attacks? Believe me, I know how difficult it is when you feel unable to control your own mind." Lizzie asked her genuinely, reaching one of her hands towards Hope’s and squeezing hers.

“I haven’t had any bad ones since the baby was born. Those were just unbearable… I can handle everything else I got.” Hope shrugged looking away from her but she felt so grateful to Lizzie for her care.

“You know you don’t have to handle anything alone anymore. Maybe I don’t really remember but I am your friend and even if I’m not in town I am just a phone call away.” Lizzie smiled as reassured her.

“I know, thank you! That’s why I called you today… I just couldn’t keep it in anymore. Especially after today.” Hope was truly grateful. “And you okay? I know you had umm… meltdowns and such when we were in school.” Hope asked sincerely.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Becoming a vampire was hard how it amplified all my emotions, I’m sure you are aware. It was difficult with my mental illness, it still is difficult sometimes, but you know I have people around to ground me. My sister and MG are always there if I need help as well as our friends.” Lizzie smiled as she explained. “Now tell me about this kid of yours”

“Her name is Scarlett. She’s really smart and kind has a huge heart and a total nerd just like her dad. She’s also fiery and snarky and sometimes really annoying.” Hope laughed, so was Lizzie.

“Like her mom?” Lizzie asked, laughing earning a slight punch to the arm from Hope.

Lizzie and Hope spent hours talking and drinking. They opened up to each other, they could really talk about anything. Hope missed her friend so much. Lizzie ended up staying at Hope’s place for the night taking one of the many empty rooms in the compound. Even though Hope went to bed that night alone, she felt calm. She was happy she told everything to Lizzie, she was happy to have a friend who was sticking by her side. At least she’ll have Lizzie in her life forever, she hoped so.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 13 is an unlucky number. So here is Chapter 13...

The following couple weeks went by fast. Hope wasn’t surprised when she got the call from Josie to go ahead with the plan regarding the twin boys, her wife was on board. So Hope worked on the spell for weeks. She did some research on both the Gemini and on the werewolf untying spell as well. She tried to combine, come up with something that might work. She was writing hundreds of spells but didn’t find one that would speak to her yet.

On the other hand her relationship with Landon seemed perfect. He finished his semester and spent all his free time at Hope’s place, he basically moved in with her. They cooked together their meals every day, they made sweet love every night and talked about almost everything. Almost…

Lizzie however was getting mad at Hope that she still wasn’t able to tell Landon about Scarlett. She promised she would tell, but Hope struggled every time she got close to it. Lizzie and Hope got along just well, when Landon and Raf had some bro time, Hope spent her time with Lizzie usually visiting the vampire clubs. Josie only contacted Hope about the spell. Hope was a little disappointed in the fact that Josie had no interest in her whatsoever as a friend when in Hope’s memories Josie was one of her very best friends in their past.

Hope didn’t contact Scarlett in the past weeks. She wanted to go to the Bayou and talk to her so badly but the last time they met on Scarlett’s birthday she was very clear about where she was standing about Hope so she didn’t want to bother her. Not now anyway. She really hoped that Scarlett would come around and then Hope would be there whenever Scarlett was ready to take a step forward.

It was a bright Monday morning. Hope was up all night working on the merge in the library when Lizzie barged in and scared the living shit out of Hope who was deeply focused on writing a spell. In the past weeks Hope gave access to the compound to Lizzie, since she became a regular visitor and Hope’s best friend.

“I got it!” Lizzie screamed at Hope.

“What the hell Lizzie?” Hope yelled.

“Sorry, I know it’s early but I found it, I found a memory spell that I actually think could work… it just needs some rewriting I think and I am not so comfortable with that.” Lizzie said and dropped a heavy book in front of Hope on the desk she was working at. Hope started to look into the spell. “What do you think?” Lizzie asked, all hyped.

“I don’t know, maybe, but it’s Japanese and I’m not so comfortable in eastern witchcraft.” Hope said.

“No worries, Josie is like a pro in it. She’ll translate to you and you just have to revise the spell to work on us. She will be happy to do it, you work on her stuff nonstop, at least somehow she can repay.” Lizzie said happily.

“Okay, I’ll look into it. It sounds promising.” She smiled.

The library door opened again and Landon entered with a tray in his hands.

“Lizzie, hi. Didn’t know you were here.” Landon said surprised by her presence.

“Yep, I might just get the answer, how to get your memories back of your girlfriend.” Lizzie shrugged.

“Om my God, that’s awesome!” He said and placed the tray with waffles and hot tea in front of Hope on the desk. He gave her a quick peck on the lips. “And how’s your research going? I missed you last night.” He asked Hope.

“Failing with everything I do… I’m not giving up yet, but I need a break.” Hope said exhausted who was working all night long.

“Ooh breakfast!” Lizzie said as she grabbed a waffle off Hope’s plate.

“Hey, now that both of you here, I wanted to ask something.” Landon looked at the two girls in the room.” You remember Lizzie when we tried to find my mother? Do you think maybe Hope and you could look into what you found? We know now it wasn’t my mother but maybe it could be a sibling or something…” Landon asked them, wondering. Lizzie almost choked at the waffle, now clearly knowing who she found.

“I haven’t found anything for months Landon. I’m not so sure what it was anymore.” Lizzie said as she gave a death glare to Hope.

“I know that’s why I asked Hope. With her power we might actually find some of my family.” Landon said desperate and looked at Hope for her help.

“Landon, I’m just really tired now. I don’t think I could pay attention to any spell. I’m going upstairs to take a nap.” Hope got up from the chair and walked towards the library door. Landon grabbed her and placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Maybe I should ask Josie, maybe she has more time.” Landon said gently to Hope who jumped.

“Just leave it Landon! I will look into it I promise.” Hope said firmly then left the library.

After Hope woke in the early afternoon, she went back to the library working on the spell. Lizzie already left and Hope was trying to avoid Landon. She was afraid he would ask to find his family again. Landon didn’t bother her all day. When she came out from the library in the evening, it was already late. He didn’t find Landon around so she texted him. She felt bad about ignoring him all day. He might have left, thinking she would spend all night in the library again. She texted again apologizing for ignoring him, when the gate opened. It was Landon with some grocery bags in his hands.

“Your fridge was literally empty, so I thought I’d buy some stuff. You’re also low on blood bags too, but I don’t know where you get those so I just bought normal food.” Landon mumbled when he noticed Hope standing at the door.

“Thank God you came back. I thought you would leave.” Hope hugged him tightly.

“Why would I leave?” He asked.

“I don’t know. I kinda ignored you all day, and I was working last night as well. I’m sorry Landon.” She apologized.

“I know this spell writing thing takes a lot from you. If anyone should apologize it’s me. I’m sorry I asked about that stupid lineage spell. I know how exhausted you are nowadays.”

“It’s not stupid. I just don’t think I can deal with that right now. I’m sorry Landon.” Hope said, but didn’t look into his eyes. It seemed like he wanted to ask something but didn’t. Hope knew that Landon could sense if someone was lying. He might knew that Hope wasn’t a hundred percent honest just now, but he didn’t elaborate.

They made dinner together and Hope promised Landon during dinner that she will make up for last night. After dinner they were making love in Hope’s bedroom for hours. They weren’t quiet about it when they heard someone banging on the bedroom door and calling out for Hope. It was one of the Hybrids, Brook. Hope got really mad, she clearly heard that they were very busy.

“What the hell do you want??” Hope yelled furiously.

“There was an attack, we need you immediately.” Brook said on the other side of the door. Hope got off of Landon and started to dress. It might be bad if they came for her personally in the middle of the night.

“What is it?” Hope opened the door and asked the hybrid.

“The pack was attacked about an hour ago. It is bad, many died.” She said and Hope’s heart just skipped a beat.

“Tell me exactly what happened while we get there.” Hope was nervous but she had to remain professional about it.

“Wait, I’ll come with you.” Landon followed them. Hope could only think about Scarlett now. She needed to know if she was ok. Hope didn’t really pay attention to Landon, who popped in the back seat while Brook was driving them to the Bayou.

“It was after midnight, everyone was sleeping. They bombed and burned down many houses in the Bayou. Whoever it was they knew wolves were living there. No one saw anyone around. The attackers were in and out quickly. They wanted to kill as many wolves as possible.” Brook explained.

“While they were sleeping?” Hope asked in disbelief. “Any children?” She asked and took a deep breath.

“I’m sure there was…” Brook said, she was almost crying too.

Hope could feel Landon’s hand on her arms. She reached back to hold his hand. It comforted her a little. She didn’t know what to expect but she was nervous and infuriated. She was scared for Scarlett. She was only fifteen, she cannot die, not yet, she can’t be a vampire.

When they arrived at the Bayou, it was worse than she thought it’s going to be. There were houses burning. Unharmed people were trying to put out the fire and rescue anyone they could. They brought every injured and dead to the clearing where they usually held their moon parties. Everyone was screaming, crying. It was awful. Alex and another hybrid rushed to Hope. They were already there to help.

“Every one of you should be here.” Hope said. “You call Victor, and tell him to bring as many vampires here as possible to heal the injured.” She told one of the hybrids. He nodded.

“You, call Sadie and the witches. Call them to help put out the fires then do tracking spells to find whatever they can on the attackers.” She told Alex.

“You help heal the injured until the vampires are not here.” She told Brook.

“I can go help, I can get in the houses. I can’t burn Hope.” Landon said and Hope nodded.

“Just be careful.” She said.

Hope rushed to a burning cabin while Landon rushed to another. She put the fire out with magic and tried to get in with some other unharmed wolves to see if there was anyone inside. Hope could put out the fire, but not the heat coming from the burnt walls. It was unbearable in there, but they got in anyway. They found two people in the House. One was burnt unrecognizable the other might still have a chance. They grabbed both of them. As they were walking out of the cabin, the unstable roof started to fall. Hope quickly got it with magic before it fell on the people inside. As they got out the house it collapsed to the ground. They put the two unconscious people on the ground. One was dead for sure. Hope quickly bit her wrist and started to give some blood to the other person. He started to stir and his burned face healed immediately. As he gained conciseness Hope ran to another house to help. Unfortunately there were no survivors in that one. She ran to the next cabin, which was theirs. It was Abigail’s and Scarlett’s. It was burned to the ground barely anything remained of it. She got there too late. She put out the fire and tried to move the burnt wood away with magic. There were others there helping, trying to find anything, when she spotted a burnt body. She gasped and ran towards it. The others followed.

“It’s Abigail.” A man said.

“Take her to the clearing. Anyone know where her daughter is?” Hope asked them. There was no sign of anyone else in the cabin. They just shook their heads. Where the hell was Scarlett?

Hope went back to the clearing, most of the people gathered there, she might find Scarlett there. The vampires and witches arrived as well. Everyone was helping. Hope fell down next to Abigail’s body on the floor. She wanted to cry. She felt a hand on her shoulders. It was someone from the pack she recognized but didn’t even know his name.

“She was a great alpha.” He said and Hope nodded.

Then Hope looked up and noticed Landon running with someone in his arms. Someone badly injured, probably dead. Hope rushed to him.

“It’s Raf, you have to help him.” Landon said in panic.

“Put him on the ground!” Hope instructed as she bit her wrist and shoved the blood in Raf’s mouth. “What the hell was he doing here?”

“She was with that wolf girl, Annie. She didn’t make it Hope.” Hope nodded sadly. They were waiting for Raf to get better but he was in really bad shape.

“Landon, I don’t think he is alive anymore… I’m so sorry.” Hope said and grabbed Landon’s hand as he cried.

“No, no that’s not possible. I saw him take a breath just a while ago. He can’t be dead. He’s my brother.” Landon broke down and Hope pulled him into her embrace.

“I’m sorry, I don’t hear any heartbeat.” She said holding him tightly.

“I’m sorry Landon, but I need to go help others.” Landon nodded. Hope saw him kneeling beside his brother, not leaving him as she rushed to another cabin. Luckily there was no fire anymore, the witches took care of it. Sadie and Victor came to see Hope.

“Is it true about Abigail? Is she?” The witch asked and Hope nodded.

“It was humans, I’m sure of it! They will regret it!” Victor spitted.

“How could I miss it? I thought I took care of it with that police officer.” Hope said.

“He was alone? You sure of it?” Sadie asked.

“Yeah, I… I was sure of it but… he had a daughter who dated one of the untriggered wolves he killed. I’ll start there.” Hope said, still shocked and confused by everything just happened.

“It wasn’t one little girl.” Victor said. “They burnt multiple houses at the same time. It was carefully calculated. Must be a group of hunters or something.”

“Yeah. You two ask around of your people who are working with the humans. Report any small detail. I will still pursue this girl. She is a daughter of a hunter and her mother was killed by a wolf. I just didn’t think… God it could all be my fault because I didn’t go after his daughter.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over this. None of us thought about it. We will get every single one of them and make them pay for this.” Victor said.

“He’s right. They should’ve never stepped inside our town. They will regret this. They will pay for Abigail and the other wolves with their lives.” Sadie agreed.

“Thank you, for sticking by the wolves.” Hope said and they nodded.

After they parted Hope still tried to help wherever she could, and she was asking around if anyone had seen Scarlett, but no one had. Then suddenly Landon ran towards her.

“Hope, come quickly!” He said, grabbing her arms.

“What is it Landon?” She asked.

“It’s Raf, he’s ok Hope. I think your blood cured him after all.” He said happily. “But something is just different about him.”

They walked to Rafael. It should be impossible, he was certainly dead. But he was alive, he was sitting on the ground where he was lying dead a few minutes ago. As soon as they got closer Hope knew exactly what was happening. He seemed confused and agitated. He must have been barely alive when Hope shoved the blood in him and probably died seconds later. The blood didn’t have time to heal him but had plenty of time to turn him to a hybrid.

“Oh God!” Hope breathed loudly as they sat down next to Raf on the ground. As soon as Rafael noticed Hope, he became calm. “Raf I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to do this to you.” She apologized.

“What are you talking about?” Landon asked.

“I think, I turned you into a hybrid Raf.” Hope said. Landon gasped and Raf seemed confused.

“You turned me into a hybrid? Like a wolf-vampire hybrid?” Hope nodded. “That explains the hunger.”

“Yes. But listen to me carefully ok?” Raf nodded. “You have a choice and you need to choose now. You can live your life as a hybrid, an immortal life but you will be sired to me. Meaning, you will have no choice but do as I say. I am not asking unreasonable things and I respect the hybrids, I don’t control their personal life whatsoever. You are a friend so I will not request you to stay by my side but it will be difficult for you to leave me because of the sire bond. Also, since you will be my responsibility until your feeding is under control you need to stay with my hybrids for a while. They will help you through this. After you are under control, I won’t keep you here in New Orleans. So it’s your choice, all you have to do is to drink my blood again, to finish transitioning.” Hope explained what would happen to him.

“And if I don’t drink your blood I just die?” He asked.

“Yes, in 24 hours.” Hope said.

“No, Raf you can’t die. You can do this! You me brothers forever now. I will be there for you always. ok?” Landon assured him.

“Yeah, I don’t want to die.” Rafael said.

“Okay. Give me a minute.” Hope said and walked away.

She was looking for one of her hybrids. Someone needed to take care of Raf after he turned. She saw Brook and waved at her.

“Can I help?” She asked.

“Yeah, I accidently turned someone. He’ll need some support. Do you think you can handle it now?” Hope asked.

“Sure, now that the vampires and witches are here there’s enough help around. Who is it?” She asked.

“Not from our pack, but I know him, he's a good person.” Hope said.

They reached Raf and Landon. Hope noticed Rafael being emotional.

“You okay Raf? Do you still want to go through with this? You understand everything, right?” Hope wanted to make sure.

“Yes, of course. Landon just told me that Annie didn’t make it. She didn’t deserve this.” Raf said.

“No one deserved this.” Said Brook.

“This is Brook. Brook, this is Rafael. After we finish the transition I need you to take him away from here, away from the people. We don’t need anyone else to get hurt. Take care of him, teach him to feed.” Hope instructed.

“I will go with them, I don’t think there’s anything else I can do around here.” Landon said.

Hope nodded at Landon then she bit her wrist again. She offered it to Rafael, who took it in his mouth and started to suck on the blood fiercely. After a little while Hope had to rip away her wrist from Raf.

“Hey, easy. you don’t need all my blood.” Hope smiled at him.

“Sorry. So that’s it? I’m a hybrid now?” Raf asked.

“Yes, that’s it. No go! See you later okay?” Hope said and they all got up to leave. Landon hugged her and she kissed him softly before they left. She really didn’t care about the people around and her image and surely no one else cared about it now.

After they left she tried and called Scarlett. Of course she didn’t pick up. She walked around, helped where she could and asked around if anyone knew where Scarlett was. The sun started to rise and she had no clue about her girl. She called her and texted her multiple times but nothing. A locator spell would be useless since she is cloaked at all times. She wished she’d have the app to track her phone, but she was not her mother… her mother was dead and she probably had no idea.

It was bright in the morning now. The witches helped clean up the ruins with magic. All the injured were healed by the vampires. The wolves invited their pack members who had lost their homes into their own until they would build new houses. But everyone was grieving. They lost many today. They needed to do the funerals as soon as possible in the heat. They were planning to do it that night. Hope instructed the hybrids to go find and take Amy Arnold, the daughter of the hunter. Hope said they don’t have to be gentle about it but not to kill her. So they left. Everyone else was preparing for the funerals.

Hope sat down on the ground in front of the ruins of Abigail and Scarlett’s cabin. She pulled her knees up and buried her face in her palms. She started to cry. She didn’t care anymore who could see her. She cried for the lost pack members, she cried for Abigail who was nothing but kind to her, who took care of her child when she couldn’t. She cried for the child who just lost her mother today.

Hope heard a muffled sound hit the ground in front of her. She opened her eyes looking down, seeing a backpack laying on the ground. Next to the bag standing someone. She looked up slowly to the person ahead. It was her, It was Scarlett staring with teary eyes trying to take in the sight in front of her.


	14. Chapter 14

Scarlett was staring at her sitting on the ground crying. She was staring at the burnt ruins of her house. She was staring at the people in the distance running around anxiously. She had tears in her eyes. She knew something terrible had happened.

“Where’s my mom?” She asked nervously. Hope stood up, walked to her, tears still streaming from her eyes. She grabbed Scarlett’s shoulders. She tried to shake her off but Hope was holding her firmly.

“I’m sorry Scarlett… She’s gone.” Hope said looking right into her eyes. Scarlett’s cried and she was shaking.

“No, you’re lying!” She screamed as she tried to get out of Hope’s grip.

“I’m so sorry.” Hope repeated herself, then hugged Scarlett tightly even though she tried to push her away as she sobbed. She gave up after a minute or so and eased into Hope’s arms.

Hope held her until she heard her sobs lighten. She let her go and caressed her face wiping her tears away. Hope looked into her hazy eyes. She was broken and confused.

“There was an attack.” Hope tried to tell her what happened. “They attacked at night, people were sleeping.” She took a deep breath and wiped her own tears away. “So many died. I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.” She cried.

“Werewolf hunters?” Scarlett asked in a choked voice.

“Probably… yes.” Hope nodded.

“You said you took care of that.” Scarlett cried.

“I know, I thought…I’m sorry.” Hope said. Yes, it was her fault too. Now Scarlett can blame her for her mother’s death too. But she just nodded. Hope saw many things in her eyes but blame wasn’t there.

“I’m gonna kill whoever did this.” Scarlett said furiously.

“They are going to suffer, I promise you that.” Hope replied.

“They killed my mom Hope, I’m not gonna sit back quietly while you say you take care of things. I wanna know everything. I wanna look into their eyes and see them suffer before they die.” She cried with anger.

Hope knew exactly this feeling. She was angry and vengeful, and if thinking about killing these bastards helped her go on then Hope wasn’t going to take it away from her now. Of course she wasn’t going to let her kill anyone, but for now she was going to do everything to help her feel better.

“You should come with me to the compound now. We’ll come back in the evening for the funerals.” Hope said. Scarlett wasn’t objecting. There wasn’t really any place she could go now.

“I can see you found Scarlett” A woman came around from the pack. Hope just nodded. “I can take care of her, don't you worry. We are a pack, we take care of each other’s children.” The woman said as she stepped to Scarlett and stroked her head.

“I’ll take her home with me.” Hope said to the woman who was surprised at her statement. “Unless” Hope looked at Scarlett who looked lost in her thoughts. “Do you mind coming with me or you rather stay here?” Hope asked her, she didn’t want to force Scarlett knowing how she felt about her, but she just shrugged. “She’s coming with me. “ Hope said.

When they arrived at the compound, Hope made up a room for Scarlett next to hers. The room was huge and it had its own bathroom. The two combined was almost the size of Scarlett’s and Abigail’s cabin. Hope made her bed and prepared some towels. Scarlett just sat on an armchair in the corner quietly.

“You should take a shower. The warm water will make you feel better.” Hope grabbed the towels and gave it to her.

“I don’t have anything to wear. All my stuff left is in that damn backpack.” She started crying again.

“Don’t worry about stuff.” Hope was squatting in front of her. She placed her hands on her knees, trying to comfort her. “Go, clean yourself up, I’ll find you something to wear at the funeral.”

While Scarlett was in the bathroom, Hope was trying to find something for her. They were basically the same size so it wouldn’t be that hard, but Hope’s clothes were not really suited for a 15 year old girl. She went to another room’s closet, where Hope kept old clothes she wasn’t wearing anymore. She found the dress she wore at her mother’s funeral at fifteen. It was a pretty black dress with flowers on it. It was perfect for a young girl. She placed it on Scarlett’s bed and gave her a pair of high heels to go with the dress.

She went back to her room, staring at the unmade bed with crumpled sheets how they left it last night with Landon. It seemed like it was forever ago. Everything that happened since then seemed like a horrid nightmare. She made her bed and laid down on it, checking her phone. She had several missed calls from Landon and Lizzie and from some of the hybrids.

She called the hybrids first. They said Amy Arnold left town, but they are tracking her with some help from the witches. Hope told them to call her as soon as they captured the girl. She wanted to get involved and track her right now, but she couldn’t abandon Scarlett. Not now and she knew that the hybrids were perfectly capable of handling the situation.

She called Landon next, who picked up the phone at the first ring.

“Hope! What’s going on? Is there anything I can help with?” Landon asked.

“Hey, no, not now. Thanks Landon.” Hope answered vaguely.

“I’m so sorry about what happened. Please let me know if you need anything or a hug or something. I want to be there for you.”

“Thanks Landon. I’m home now, getting ready for the evening. The funerals are tonight so I will be busy with that.”

“Do you need me to go with you? I want to go anyways… for Raf’s girlfriend. Raf can’t go tonight, he’s still adjusting.”

“No Landon you don’t need to come!” Hope said it a little more harshly then she wanted. “I’m sorry. It’s just a difficult day. How’s Raf doing?” She asked. She really wanted Landon’s closeness and comforting touch but it was already a hard day, she didn’t want Scarlett and Landon running into each other.

“As I said, he’s adjusting. He’s taking bloodbags, he seems to be okay with it. Hope I’m just so grateful that you saved him. He’s my only family, I just wasn’t ready for him to go. So thank you.”

“You should stay with him. I will be busy with this for a while. I will call you when I can. Ok? I miss you already.” Hope said. She knew their daily meetings would definitely have to stop now that Scarlett was there. 

“Okay. Take care Hope. If you need anything just call. I love you!”

“I love you too” She said and hung up the phone.

She decided to call back Lizzie later. She just needed to close her eyes for a moment. That moment turned out to be hours. She jumped out of bed as she woke up. She didn’t mean to take a long nap. She quickly got up and headed to check on Scarlett. She knocked on the door. Scarlett didn’t say anything, but she heard her heartbeat.

“I’m coming in okay?” There was no answer so Hope opened the door. She was sitting on the armchair in the corner. She wore leggings and a baggy shirt, probably something from her backpack. Hope’s dress was laid across the bed exactly how Hope left it there.

“Are you hungry? Do you need to take a nap before we leave?” Hope asked. She wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. “I’ll make you a sandwich and some tea.” Scarlett didn’t respond so Hope closed the door and headed to the kitchen to prepare something. She thought of herself at that age losing her own mother. She was mostly angry at everyone and everything. She blamed her uncle, Roman Sienna, his mom of course, those fucking nazi vampires but she mostly blamed herself. She hoped Scarlett was not blaming herself, she wasn’t even around. Hope needed her family, she needed her people around after her mother died. That’s why she took the hollow back, that’s why she did the spell. Then it ended up killing her entire family. That’s not going to happen to Scarlett. She knew Scarlett hated her and she didn’t see her as anything of a mother but she had to try her best to be there for her. She needed as many people in her life as possible… she needed her father. Hope couldn’t drag this out any longer. She needed to be honest with Landon.

She knocked on her door again with some food and tea. Scarlett was still sitting in the chair. Hope placed the tray next to the chair on a small coffee table. Scarlett didn’t react to her or the food at all. Hope sat down on her bed.

“Please at least take a bite. I don’t want you to pass out later at the funeral.” Hope asked her. Scarlett took a bite and sipped on the tea then gave Hope an ‘are you happy?’ look. Hope tried not to be annoyed with her, she just lost her mom. “If you are done you should get dressed we’ll leave soon.” Hope told her, still sitting on the bed.

“Then you should give me some privacy to get dressed.” Scarlett snapped at her. Hope just nodded and left the room.

Hope got dressed as well, in a tight black dress. She applied darker makeup and let her hair loose. When she finished she went to check on Scarlett. She was sitting on the bed, dressed in Hope’s dress. It fitted her perfectly.

“You look really pretty.” Hope said, she didn’t react. “ Are you gonna do something with your hair?” Hope asked but she just shrugged. “Do you want me to braid it?” She asked but only received another shrug. “Come, sit here.” Hope gestured to the vanity in the room. Scarlett walked to the vanity and sat down. Hope braided her long dark curly hair and did her makeup as well.

They drove to the Bayou. It was a quiet ride. When they arrived they walked to the dock where the funeral was going to happen. Scarlett didn’t leave Hope’s side. The coffins were already at the dock, made up nicely with flowers. People were gathering at the dock where the coffins will be shipped to the water and burned. An older man stood in front. She saw him many times but never really paid attention to his name. Hope knew he was Abigail’s right hand and she trusted him. Hope knew they needed another alpha but didn’t really know anyone else but Abigail. She was the one dealing with people, Hope had no idea who was reliable or not.

The man started to speak. He spoke shortly about the unfortunate event. It was still too fresh in everyone’s memories. Then she spoke about Abigail. It was a long and emotional speech. Hope held Scarlett’s hand as he spoke and Scarlett held hers too. Then Hope spoke a few words too about how she was the first to believe in her and the three factions would not have been as peaceful as it is today without her. She also told them that she will make sure that whoever did this to the pack will pay with their lives. Scarlett stood by Hope and the man as the coffin was sailed to the waters then it burned to ashes. Scarlett was sobbing. Hope wanted to hug her, but Scarlett ran away from the crowd. Hope had to stay there until they sailed all of the dead. It took hours for them to finish.

When the funerals were over and the crowd finally scattered, Hope was trying to find Scarlett. She went to where the ruin of their house stood but she wasn’t there. She started to get worried then called her. She was so used to her not answering her calls that she actually got startled when she picked up the phone.

“Yeah?” Scarlett asked.

“Where are you?” Hope asked, still worried.

“At your car. Where are you?” She replied calmly.

“Oh. I’ll be right there.” Hope hung up the phone. Hope was surprised Scarlett wasn’t pushing her away.

They drove home in silence late at night. When they arrived at the compound they both left for their rooms. Hope showered then settled in her bed. She still couldn’t comprehend everything that happened in the past 24 hours. The attack on the wolves, Abigail’s death and Scarlett… sleeping here right next door. Hope was deep in her thoughts when she heard rapid heartbeat and quiet sobs from outside her door. She quickly ran but already heard steps fading away. When she opened her door, she heard the other one closing. She walked over Scarlett’s room. She knocked but there was no answer. She opened the door. Scarlett was in her bed facing away from the door. Hope heard her quiet sobs. Hope settled next to her on the bed and hugged her from behind, spooning her. Scarlett cried louder now. Hope wanted to comfort her, to tell her everything was going to be ok. But that might be a lie. Things might not be okay, she would always miss her mother. So she told her the only thing she could that would always be true.

“You might not believe me but I know exactly what you are going through. And I want you to know that you are not alone. When you are sad and lonely or just need someone to talk to please know that I will be always there for you. I won’t leave you! I will never leave you again Scarlett I promise you that. I’m really sorry for everything that happened today. I love you! Always and forever.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and for all the nice comments!  
> Love you guys!!

Hope woke up the next day to soft breaths against her neck. She felt Scarlett’s body pressed to her softly as she snuggled up to Hope in her sleep. Hope was afraid to move. She didn’t want to wake the sleeping girl. She struggled to fall asleep last night, she needed as much sleep as she could get after the day she had. Hope closed her eyes, trying to get more sleep until Scarlett was sleeping. Hope woke again later when she felt movement against her side. She opened her eyes as Scarlett tried to untangle herself from Hope.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.” Scarlett looked at her apologetically.

“It’s ok, I need to get up anyway.” Hope smiled and got out of the bed.” I make some breakfast. Just come downstairs when you’re ready.” Scarlett nodded and Hope left her room.

Hope got dressed and headed to the kitchen to make some pancakes. She still couldn’t believe that Scarlett was there with her. Hope was relieved that Scarlett wasn’t pushing her away. She promised to be there for her, and she intended to keep her promise.

When she finished making breakfast, she heard Scarlett’s steps on the stairs. She slowly entered the kitchen.

“I hope you like pancakes.” Hope said as she made the breakfast table. Scarlett smiled and nodded. Hope noticed she was in the same leggings and baggy shirt she wore the day before. “Maybe we should go shopping for some clothes today.” She said as they sat down to the table to eat.

“That would be nice, thank you.” Scarlett said genuinely.

They ate in silence when Hope’s phone was ringing. She saw it was Alex, so she answered it excusing Scarlett.

“You got her?” Hope asked.

“Yeah, we dragged her back to the city. Keeping her locked up.”

“Good, be there shortly.” Hope hung up the phone.

“Was that about the attacker?” Scarlett asked curiously.

“Yes.” Hope said, she didn’t even try to lie. Scarlett said she wanted to get involved and Hope was going to let her. She needed to know why her mother was dead.

“So you got someone?” She asked excitedly.

“Yes, looks like we have a lead. How about we take a detour before shopping and question this asshole?” Hope asked with a smirk. She didn’t intend to leave her alone just yet and she might just get some closure.

“Yeah.” Scarlett answered with her smirk.

Hope and Scarlett arrived at a building outside of the city. It was used for special occasions if someone needed a convincing talk… or torturing. Alex and two other hybrids were there with the girl. Brook was with Rafael and the fifth hybrid was probably watching the compound. The girl was locked in a cell. She was in her early twenties. Hope walked to the cage slowly, Scarlett and the hybrids followed behind. The girl seemed to be scared and when she saw Hope and Scarlett, she seemed to be somewhat relieved. Hope just smirked and shook her head.

“You compelled her?” Hope asked the hybrids.

“No, we thought to leave the fun part to you.” Alex said

“Good” Hope smirked, then looked at the girl in the cell. “So you are Amy right? Amy Arnold?” Hope asked.

“Yes, and I have no idea why I am here. These scary men just took me and threatened me. Please, you have to help me.” The girl pleaded holding the cell bars tightly.

“You have no idea why you are here?” Hope laughed at her. The girl just shook her head.

“Well, let me help you out then. A werewolf pack was attacked two nights ago here in the city. Did you have anything to do with it? Hope asked casually.

“Werewolves? What the hell are you talking about?” The girl asked in disbelief.

“Oh, I’m sure you heard about them. You know… allegedly your mother was murdered by one. I’m sure your daddy mentioned it once or twice… he was kinda obsessed if you ask me.” Hope told her, maintaining her smirk. The girl seemed to get mad.

“Do you know what happened to my dad? He’s missing, I’m sure those beasts killed him.” Amy said in fury.

“Sure I know. He is dead yeah… sorry for your loss but you know not really. He was an awful person who murdered innocent kids. So, I tore his fucking head off from his body.” Hope smiled. She didn’t really dare to look at Scarlett. For a moment she forgot she was there. The last thing she wanted was to scare her.

“You killed him?” The girl screamed with anger.

“Yeah” Then Hope vamp sped to the cell, where the girl was still gripping to the bars. Hope grabbed her by her shirt and looked deep into her eyes. “You are going to answer me truthfully from now on. Stop whining, stop screaming, stop with all the useless emotional outbursts. You are just going to stand here, not move and tell me everything we ask.” She compelled her, then stepped back.

“Now let’s start from the beginning.” Hope said smiling at her. “Did you have anything to do with the attack two nights ago?” She asked.

“Yes” Amy answered.

“You see? Much easier.” Hope said. “Tell me the names of everyone involved in the attack.” She questioned and Amy listed a handful of names. Hope gestured to the hybrids to do what they need. “Now tell me Amy. I’m curious, how did you get involved? Did you intentionally date someone from the pack to get information to your father? Did you two work together because honestly, I was not expecting that? I was so sure he was alone.” Hope told the girl.

“For a long time, I thought my father was crazy. Since I was a little girl he was really obsessed with werewolves, he said that’s how my mother died. When I was little I believed him, but as I got older his story seemed to be more and more insane. Then we moved here about a year ago. He was always talking about the wolves and how he's going to kill them here in New Orleans. He sounded crazy, until he disappeared a couple months ago. I found every research of his in his basement on wolves. That’s how I found out my ex boyfriend was one. Every information my dad knew was written down in journals. Then I found a notebook with contacts for other hunters. I called them. They knew my dad, when I told them he was missing, they came to help me. When there was no sign of him we were sure he was killed, so we planned an attack. To kill as many wolves as we can. I hope they died all. After what they did to my mom, what you did to my dad. You all need to die.” She said it in a calm tone which was almost funny.

“So, you didn’t even consider that you were killing children? Or that you were killing parents making children orphans? You are more insane than your father ever was.” Hope spitted with disgust.

“You are beasts, you don’t belong to this world.” Amy said.

“You know I heard enough.” Hope vamp sped to her and grabbed her again.

“You gonna kill me now?” She asked calmly. The only way she was able to speak but she was terrified in her eyes. Hope wanted to kill her, but not in front of Scarlett.

“Not just yet. We’ll wait for your friends. Maybe I make you watch them suffer and die before we end you. Now, do us a favor and shut the fuck up. I don’t want to hear another word from you.” She compelled her then let her go.

“You three, find the rest, if needed ask the witches help. I want everyone alive. ” Hope instructed the hybrids. “You ready for some shopping?” She smiled at Scarlett.

Hope and Scarlett were driving quietly on the way to a shopping center.

“You were pretty terrifying.” Scarlett said smiling.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Hope said apologetically.

“No, you didn’t. It was awesome. You should’ve killed her. I wanted to.” Scarlett said.

“You won’t feel better about what happened if you kill her. It won’t bring your mother back and killing someone will scar you forever.” Hope wanted to give her the satisfaction to see the attacker and reassure her that they won’t ever see the light of day. But she didn’t want her to be all vengeful and do something she might regret later.

“Maybe… but she deserves to die for what she did. So many of us are gone…” Scarlett said looking out of the car window.

“I know. I intend to kill her. None of those bastards will live much longer, I assure you.”

“Good.”

Hope and Scarlett had a calm day spending their time shopping. Hope bought a bunch of stuff for her since she had nothing. Every personal stuff of hers turned to ash. So they bought a bunch of clothes, shoes, accessories and toiletries and everything necessary. Then Hope bought her a bunch of comic books she liked, she got her a new laptop so she can write. They got some stuff for her room as well, so it would be more hers. They had dinner out so when they got home by the evening they both were exhausted. Hope grabbed a bloodbag as soon as they got back and Scarlett headed to her room to put away everything they got. Hope checked on her phone and had a bunch of text and missed calls from Landon and Lizzie. She called Landon first while she was sipping on the blood.

“I miss you.” Landon answered the phone.

“Miss you too Landon.”

“Are you home? I need to see you.” He asked.

“I’m sorry I’m just really busy… umm... everything with the attack.” Hope kinda lied. Of course, the hybrids could call anytime that they got the rest of the hunters but the real reason was Scarlett. Hope had to prepare herself to talk to Landon. She knew she couldn’t drag this talk out anymore. Scarlett was living with her, sooner or later they would run into each other. So she decided to deal with the attackers and after they got everyone and life goes back to somewhat normal she would tell Landon everything.

“Did you find who is responsible?” Landon asked.

“Yes, actually we have someone locked up and got the names of everyone else involved too so hopefully it will all be over soon.” Hope said.

“That’s good. So are they human then? Raf said he heard the other hybrids talk.”

“Yes, werewolf hunters…”

“That’s awful. Just take care of yourself. I hope I can see you tomorrow.”

“I call you. Ok? I love you Landon.”

“Yeah I love you too.”

Hope truly missed his closeness and she hated lying to him. She couldn’t even talk to him the way she wanted to, how she needed to. She felt like he knew when she was lying. But it was going to be over soon. She would tell him in a couple of days, when it was all over. She would tell him and he would hate her. He would leave her. But at least she’d be finally honest, and Scarlett would have a chance to have her father in her life.

Hope called Lizzie, because she texted her numerous messages.

“Finally. You ok? I heard what happened… with the pack.” Lizzie answered the phone.

“I’m ok Lizzie, thanks, but everything is so chaotic. Could you please tell your sister that I need to delay the research for a while? I will get back to it soon, it’s just… I don’t think my brain could completely concentrate on the spell right now.”

“Sure, don’t worry about it now. I heard it’s bad and many died. I’m really sorry about that.”

“Thanks Lizzie… umm… Scarlett’s mother died too.” Hope told her.

“What? Oh my god! How is she?” Lizzie asked, concerned.

“She’s grieving… I mean I don’t know she’s ok you know life has to go on but she’s sad and angry… fantasizing about killing the people responsible.” Hope said like it’s a totally normal thing.

“You’re not gonna let her do that. Right?” Lizzie asked, unsure knowing about the Mikaelsons...

“Of course not, I’m not a monster. I’m gonna kill them myself making sure they suffer enough to know how much pain they caused before they die.”

“Sure…ok. You do that… so Scarlett. She talking to you now?” Lizzie asked. She didn’t really want to know about Hope’s murderous revenge plan.

“Yes, she’s here with me actually. She doesn’t really have a home now and you know she’s still a kid, needs someone to take care of her. I mean the wolves would’ve taken her in but it’s safer for her here given what she is.” Hope mumbled.

“Hope you obviously care about her, she’s your daughter for god’s sake. I’m glad she’s with you though. Don’t let her go anymore. Ok?”

“Yeah, I don’t intend to and I kinda think she’s ok with being here… with me.”

“Of course she is, you’re the only family she knows left… speaking of…”

“I know what you’re going to say, and I am telling him. Give me a couple of days until I deal with the hunters. After that the first thing I’m gonna do is tell him everything.” Hope said, interrupting Lizzie.

“Fine. There’s really no excuse now that she’s living with you… How are you even keeping Landon away? He practically moved in with you in the past weeks.”

“I just told him I’m busy… which is partially true.”

“You know he can spot a lie from miles away Hope.”

“I know, it’s just… I’m dreading his reaction Lizzie, he will leave me and hate me forever for this.” Hope cried.

“I’m not gonna tell you everything will be fine because I’m sure he will be mad at you. But just tell him what you told me. You were in a shitty situation he might feel sympathy or something… I don’t know. He is good and understanding, but hotheaded too so… prepare for the worst then it could only get better from there.” Lizzie said in a rather cheery tone.

“Umm… Is this supposed to make me feel better? I’m kinda preparing for the worst for weeks. It’s just so hard to let him go after everything happened.”

“I know… I’m sorry how it all turned out. And hey, I will always have a free shoulder for you to cry on.” Lizzie chuckled.

“Thanks…”

“So, when can I meet the little Phoenix-tribrid mix?”

“I don’t know Lizzie… Actually, do you wanna come over tomorrow?”

“Sure, can’t wait.”

“Great, I need to see the hybrids again tomorrow and I really think today was enough for her to handle… and I just don’t know if I should leave her alone here after everything happened…” Hope was wondering.

“I’ll go over but she’s fifteen, I’m sure she’d be fine alone.”

“Great! See you tomorrow then.”

“Yep, see you tomorrow.”

After she hung up the phone Hope went to her room to get ready for the night. Before she went to bed she walked to Scarlett’s room to say goodnight to her. Hope knocked on her door, not expecting an answer, but Scarlett actually told her to come in. She was sitting on her bed in her new PJs, reading one of the comics they got.

“Do you have everything you need?” Hope asked her standing in the door.

“Sure” She replied vaguely.

“Ok then. If you need anything, I’m right next door. Good night Scarlett.”

“Good night.” Scarlett said. Hope smiled at her then turned around to leave. She almost closed the door when Scarlett spoke. “Hope wait!” She said when Hope turned to her.

“Everything okay?” Hope asked her and she nodded.

“I just… just wanted to say sorry about my birthday. I didn’t really mean what I said.” Scarlett looked at her with teary eyes.

Hope walked to her and sat down by her on the bed.

“You have every right to be mad at me. What I did was unforgivable. And I want you to know how sorry I am, I never meant to hurt you. That’s why I gave you up in the first place you know. I just wanted you to have a normal childhood that had nothing to do with the Mikaelson name and everything that came with it. I just didn’t want you to be like me, I didn’t want you to have the childhood I had. And I’m sorry I never told your dad about you. I was just so scared… I am so scared…” Hope teared up. She didn’t want to be too emotional in front of Scarlett, but it was too late as her tears started to fall.

“Why are you scared? You said he was good and he would have been a good dad. Do you think he won’t accept me?” Scarlett asked her concerned.

Hope smiled and cried at the same time. She caressed Scarlett’s face and thought how selfish she really was. She was debating her own happiness, how Landon would leave her but here was this girl who just wanted to be accepted by her father. At this moment Hope didn’t care about her own happiness anymore. She just wanted Scarlett to be happy, she just wanted to see her daughter happy after everything she lost.

“He will love you and accept you. I am sure about that. You do not need to be scared of anything.” Hope cried as she held Scarlett’s face. Scarlett smiled with her teary eyes and nodded, then Hope took her hands and wiped her own teary face with them.

“Then why are you scared? You think he won’t believe you because he doesn’t remember you?” She asked.

“He’ll believe me even though he doesn’t remember our past. Don’t you worry about that ok?” Scarlett nodded. Her eyes were curious but didn’t ask Hope about him anymore. There was a moment of silence before Scarlett spoke again.

“I… I feel so bad about the necklace. I tried to find it the next day but I just couldn’t. I’m sorry.” Scarlett said looking down at her hands in her lap.

“Don’t worry about it. I took it, I have it in my room.” Hope smiled at her.

“Oh” That’s all Scarlett said.

“We had a long day. We should get some sleep.” Hope said then she hugged Scarlett. “Sleep well.” Then she let her go and walked out of Scarlett’s room.

Hope went back to her own room and settled comfortably in her bed. She was staring at the ceiling for a while then grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand. She typed quickly that hovered with her finger above the send button. She took a deep breath then pressed send.

‘We need to talk. Come over for dinner tomorrow at 8.’ She sent the message to Landon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting closer :)


	16. Chapter 16

Hope woke up bright and early the next day. To be honest she didn’t sleep much. She was carefully planning her dinner with Landon in her mind. She thought of everything. What to wear, what to cook and what to tell Landon. She planned out the whole speech. She was finally going to tell him about Scarlett. She wanted to talk to Scarlett before that evening. She wanted to tell her about her plans about the dinner with her dad. She wanted to make sure she was comfortable with everything that’s going to happen. She needed her home so after she talked to Landon, she could introduce Scarlett to him. She planned everything for that night. Even if this was the last time Landon would ever talk to her, it was okay. She was going to do it for them, because she loved them.

She showered and dressed for the day. She made breakfast while she sipped on a blood bag. Scarlett made her way to the kitchen with tired eyes still in her pajamas.

“Morning” She said in a sleepy voice.

“Good morning, how did you sleep?” Hope asked, smiling.

“Okay I guess.” She shrugged and made her way to the breakfast table.

“Eggs and toast. Hope it's okay.” Hope set the food on the table, Scarlett thanked her. “Do you drink coffee or tea? I personally prefer tea.”

“Tea is fine.”

“You are not a morning person. Are you?” Hope teased her, smiling and poured her a cup of tea.

“I don’t know… I like to sleep in if I can but it’s different here.” Scarlett shrugged.

“How so?” If the bed is uncomfortable we can get another one. It might be quite old, sorry about that.” Hope asked, concerned as she sat down to the table.

“The bed is fine. It’s just… I don’t know, the room is so big and the streets are noisy. I just, I guess I’m used to the quiet nights in the Bayou and not to the noisy city.”

“Oh… I don’t know if I can help you with the room size, but I can definitely teach you a noise cancelling spell that might help. There’s a good one, no sounds in or out of your room. I used that all the time when I was a teenager… especially if vampires are around, you don’t always want everyone to hear what’s going on in your room.” Hope chuckled.

“Oh my god, I don’t think I wanna hear that story.” Scarlett blushed and giggled.

“And I can’t believe I’m gonna teach you this spell”

“Yeah, mom would be so pissed.” She giggled then her smile turned to sadness. Hope grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly. “Did you ever stop missing your mom?” Scarlett asked with sad eyes.

“No, I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing her but it will get better. I don’t think about her constantly. Life has to go on without the people we lost. But there are certain moments in life when I wish she was with me.” Hope smiled and squeezed her hand one more time before she let her go. “Now eat. After breakfast I’ll teach you that spell.”

After breakfast they went upstairs to Hope’s room to practice the spell. Hope took Scarlett’s bracelet and placed it on a nightstand next to her mom’s necklace. Scarlett learned the spell pretty quickly, it was a simple one.

“Just please don’t use the spell and sneak boys… or girls to your room to have sex… or just tell me about it… or don’t, I don’t think I want to know… I don’t even know what I’m saying, sorry.” Hope mumbled. She was pretty confident in the subject but didn’t really know how comfortable Scarlett was in the matter and she didn’t want to step over any boundaries.

“I’m a virgin, never even had a boyfriend. So, I’m not really planning on anything like that but if it makes you feel better I can tell you about it, if it happens… I mean my mom wanted to know.” She shrugged.

“Good.” Hope said relieved that she was not shying away from the subject. “So what about Oliver? Still hasn’t asked you out?”

“No, I kinda turn him down even before he asks… you know why. But honestly sometimes I feel more comfortable around him or with my human friends from school than with the wolf kids. I think the wolves would judge me more if they knew what I am.”

“They wouldn’t dare to even look at you in the wrong way.” Hope chuckled.

“That’s even worse to have them around only because of fear.” Scarlett said and Hope smiled sadly at her words. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No, you know you are absolutely right. And what you said a while back… I can only thank myself that no one stuck around me. But I am changing that, and speaking of witch… a friend of mine is coming over soon… I’ll need to leave but she’ll keep you company until I’m back.” Hope said.

“I’m fifteen, I don’t need a babysitter.” Scarlett rolled her eyes.

“I know, but you’ll like her I promise. She’s pretty cool, she’s a heretic.”

“What’s a heretic?” She asked.

“Vampire and witch hybrid.”

“How is that possible? Aren’t witches lose their magic if they turned to a vampire? Except for us but we were born like that…” Scarlett asked curiously.

“There is a very rare breed of witches, called siphons. They actually don’t have their own magic powers, but they have the ability to siphon magic from anything or anyone with magic. So, when they turn into vampires, they don’t have any magic to lose, but they keep their abilities to siphon and since they became magical creatures aka vampires they can actually siphon themselves so it’s like they have their own magic.” Hope explained.

“That’s pretty cool.” She said smiling.

“I told you.” Hope smiled back at her. “So, I was thinking… you know you shouldn’t lose your human friends or Oliver if you feel comfortable around them. Just because you are here now, things should not change for you and whenever you are ready, I think you should go back to your school.” Hope suggested.

“Yeah, maybe next week I’ll go back.” Scarlett said smiling.

“Good. Now go get your bracelet, I need to leave soon.” Hope said, pointing at her nightstand.

“Can I go with you? I know you are going to see the hybrids and the hunters.”

“Maybe next time okay? I just need to do this… aamm without you being there, I’m sorry.” Hope apologized.

“You gonna kill them?” She asked and Hope shrugged. They both knew what’s going to happen. “Okay then… make them suffer… for my mom. Especially that bitch.” Hope nodded as Scarlett put on her bracelet. She noticed the necklace on the nightstand and grabbed it. “I really liked the painting you made.” She said looking at the necklace in her hand.

“I thought you weren’t even going to look at it.” Hope said with a smile.

“I feel really bad about how I acted… and now the painting is lost too.” She said sadly still not looking up.

“You already apologized for that so stop feeling bad about it please. And it was just a painting, I can make you another one anytime.” She tried to reassure her.

“But I disrespected your mother and you... Do you still want me to have this?” She asked looking up in Hope’s eyes.

“Come here, I put it on you.” Hope smiled.

Hope clicked the necklace around Scarlett’s neck, when she heard movement from the courtyard.

“Lizzie, my friend is here. Come I introduce you to her. I will be back early in the afternoon, I will need to talk to you when I get back about this evening. It’s kind of important but first I need to deal with our hunter problem.” Hope smiled as she led the way downstairs to the courtyard.

“Hi Lizzie.” Hope greeted her as they walked down the staircase.

“Hey, you two.” Lizzie said smiling at them.

“So, Lizzie this is Scarlett, Scarlett Lizzie.” Hope introduced them uncomfortably.

“Oh my god, you didn’t tell me she looks exactly like you. Except you know mophead 2.0” Lizzie said gesturing to her hair.

“Excuse me blondie?!” Scarlett reacted all annoyed.

“I think we are going to get along just fine.” Lizzie said giggling, Scarlett still looking annoyed.

“Okay you two behave, I’ll be back soon. There’s food and blood in the fridge if any of you gets hungry.”

“Can I practice magic?” Scarlett asked them both.

“Umm… sure if Lizzie is around and okay with it.” Lizzie shrugged. “Lizzie, she’s a beginner… not really at the level we were at this age… so just keep an eye on her. Ok?”

“Sure, don’t worry mama.” Lizzie said and Hope looked at her annoyed. She turned around quickly, didn’t even want to see Scarlett’s reaction to that.”

“See you guys later!” She left the courtyard.

Hope got into her car and drove to the place where thy hybrids kept the hunters locked up. She parked her car in front of the building where a hybrid greeted her.

“We got almost all of them, they didn’t get far since the attack. There’s only one missing. Alex went to get him.” He reported to Hope, who just nodded.

When she entered the building, she found all of the hybrids there, except Alex. Brook was there with Rafael too. Hope walked to Raf, she didn’t really have time to check up on him with everything back home with Scarlett.

“Hey Raf, how are you adjusting?” Hope asked.

“I’m good, Brook is so helpful, and I am so happy to see you.” Raf said with a big smile and Brook punched his arm firmly and looked at him annoyed.

Hope knew how the hybrids felt connected to her in a way and they felt more peaceful with her around due to their sire bond, and the hybrids knew that she didn’t want to hear any affection from them whatsoever, so Brook silently scolded Rafael to not talk to Hope like that. But Hope just smiled at Rafael and he just wouldn’t shut up.

“You have no idea how grateful I am to you Hope. You saved my life and I never really had a pack I belonged to. I mean I have my brother and friends but it’s different than a pack. It’s just feels so right to belong to a pack with people like me and having you as our alpha. It’s everything I ever wanted.” He explained enthusiastically. Brook just held her head with embarrassment.

“That’s great Raf… I’m happy for you.” Hope patted his arm. ” Now let’s get back to business.” Hope suggested.

The hybrids led her to the holding cells. The hunters were sitting quietly in their cells.

“We compelled them… there was too much unnecessary noise and movement from them.” Said one of the hybrids.

“I want to question every single one of them, I want to know their motives… and I want to make sure they are not innocent before we do something irreversible.” She smirked.

Hope quickly questioned them all and she left Amy for last. She dragged her out of her cell and pushed her on a chair, compelling her to not move or not talk.

“Someone I really care about asked me to make it as painful for you as possible. I don’t intend to disappoint her.” Hope smiled at the terrified girl in the chair. “I’m going to make you watch us having our lunch. It will be fun I promise.” She maintained her calm smile. “Please, if you are hungry pick someone to drain… only if you want to, I’m not forcing anyone.” Hope told the hybrids.

Everyone, even Rafael grabbed a hunter and drained the life out of them as the girl watched them with horror. Hope was having one of them when Alex arrived with the remaining hunter.

“Just in time for lunch.” Hope said, throwing the lifeless man on the ground she just finished sucking dry. “Would you do me a favor Alex, and compel him, ask him about the attack. If he’s guilty you can drink him.” Hope smirked.

Alex compelled the man and when he let his guard down the man took a wooden stake out of his belt and stabbed Alex right in the heart. “I’m not an idiot as the rest of them. You bloodsucking vampires are all going to die.” The man laughed as Alex fell to the ground.

Hope vamp sped to Alex and pulled the stake out of his heart then he grabbed the man and pushed him to the wall. “You don’t really believe that your little stunt will possibly do any harm for us.” Hope looked at Alex who was getting up a little shaken, but unharmed. The man’s eyes followed Hope’s.

“Whatever you are you are all dead.” Said the man and Hope snapped his neck in that instant.

“You said I can have him.” Alex complained.

“He was clearly on vervain. Pick someone else.” Hope looked at him irritated but somewhat concerned.

At that moment Hope’s phone was ringing and all the hybrids’ phones as well. She picked up and it was Sadie. They detected dozens of unknown vampires entering the city. They were headed to where Hope and the hybrids kept the werewolf hunters.

“Shit. They probably worked with this asshole werewolf hunter.” Hope pointed at the dead guy on the floor she just killed. “Don’t worry, we are stronger than them. Go for the kill, we don’t have time to be nice about strangers.” Hope instructed them and they nodded. “Raf, you are new at this. It’s better if you sit this one out. You should leave now.” Hope said.

“Please don’t make me leave. I wanna fight for us, I wanna fight for you.” Rafael said. Hope didn’t have time to overthink it, so she agreed.

“Fine. Just be careful.” He nodded.

They already heard the vampires gather outside. Someone started to speak loudly.

“Give us the werewolf hunters unharmed and we will leave you alone.” We can hear there’s only seven of you inside and the humans. There’s no good ending for you if you don’t comply.” A woman’s voice spoke.

Hope opened the door and stepped outside the building. There were at least a 100 vampires ahead. She smiled. “Today is not your lucky day. Stepping inside my city was the biggest mistake of your life.” Hope smirked and the woman laughed at her. Hope dragged the woman by her side with magic and when she was face to face with her she tore her heart out right in front of her people. The rest of the vampires swarmed to attack. Hope blocked and killed a few of them by ripping their hearts out. Many of them got inside of the building while Hope was killing the ones outside. It didn’t take long for the vampires and the witches to arrive and join the fight. They killed every unknown vampire outside then Hope moved inside where they continued to fight. As Hope tore two vampire’s heads off at the same time, she saw Alex from the corner of her eyes as he fell to the ground again. She tore another heart out as she ran to him. Alex’s heart was ripped out. There was nothing to do. Soon all the unknown vampires were dead around as well as Alex. He didn’t have time to recover after he was stabbed in his heart and was weaker than the others. Hope was furious. She went to the remaining compelled humans who were just standing in their cells quietly watching everything in terror. She ripped them apart in her anger then went to the chair where she left Amy. The chair was empty. She wasn’t there.

“Where the fuck is she?” She yelled at everyone in the room.

Everyone was clueless. There were so many things happening at once no one paid attention to the girl.

“She was fucking compelled. Where the hell did she go?” Hope was still yelling furiously.

“We’ll do a locator spell. Don’t worry, we’ll find her.” Sadie said.

“Fine! Now clean up this mess!” She yelled. “And take care of Alex.” She looked at her hybrids now.

Hope was covered in blood, her clothes were soaked and it was dripping from her hair and face. She didn’t care, she needed to find Amy.

The witches collected the bodies with magic outside in one big pile and burned them all. They hid the flames and the smoke so it wouldn’t draw any attention from nearby. 

The hybrids placed Alex’s body in a room in the building. It was late in the afternoon, when the vampires and witches left. Hope walked to the room where the hybrids were with Alex. Hope looked at them standing around his body placed on a bed in the middle of the room. They looked devastated.

“I’m really sorry about everything that happened today. He died for what he believed in, for his pack. It was a real honor to have him as one of my hybrids. He will be missed.” She said as a teardrop fell from her eye. Raf walked by her side and hugged her tightly. Hope hugged him back as she cried. The other four hybrids went in and hugged them as well.

“Okay that’s enough.” Hope said. “You all should clean up, we look disgusting.”

There was an old gross bathroom in the building where Hope tried to get rid of the dried blood from every little crevasses. She burned her bloody clothes and dressed in some huge baggy clothes the hybrids kept around when they stayed there for a long period of time. Everything looked huge on her.

Hope arrived at the Compound around 7 in the evening. She parked on the street in front of the house. She was sitting in her car taking a moment to herself. She was exhausted from everything that happened that day. Alex was dead and she had no idea how attached actually she was to her hybrids until she lost one of them. She was devastated about it. Amy was gone which made her furious, but she knew the witches were on it. Landon was coming to dinner soon. She had no food, she looked horrible and exhausted and she was definitely not collected enough to perform her speech to him. She didn’t even talk to Scarlett about the dinner. Nothing about her plan was coming together. She was about to text Landon to cancel the dinner, when she saw Landon right in front of her gate with Josie holding a paper or something in her hand. Hope quickly got out of the car to see them.

“It’s only seven. What are you doing here?” She asked curiously looking at the both of them.

“Hi Hope, it’s nice to see you too.” Landon said and hugged her. “Hey you ok?” He asked looking at Hope who was tired and irritated. Her hair was tangled and probably had some blood left in it and she wore huge baggy clothes, clearly not her size.

“It was a long day Landon. I was just about to cancel dinner.” She said in a tired voice.

“Oh I’m sorry, I hope you are okay.” Landon hugged her once again then kissed her forehead before he let her go. “That’s not why we are here actually. You know it’s really weird and I am pretty sure we are all wrong about this, but Josie did that spell you know the one I did with Lizzie a while back to find my family. She actually got a strong signal and it led to your house. It’s weird. Right?” Landon said, confused.

“No, it’s completely legitimate. Landon’s blood led us here.” Josie was certain and showed Hope the map in her hand.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go...  
> This is the last prewritten chapter I had so from now on uploads won't be as frequent. Sorry for that.

Hope froze in place. She didn’t know what to do, she wasn’t ready for this. Why did he even try that spell again with Josie? She was mad at him and mad at Josie. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She had a plan. She had a good plan. She took a deep breath then wanted to say something but no sound came out of her mouth. She didn’t know how much time passed since she stood there frozen and mute. Probably not that much but seemed to be hours for her.

“What is it Hope? Are you okay?” Landon asked, concerned.

“You two should go.” She said in an irritated voice as she looked on the ground.

“Hope what is it?” Landon didn’t let this go. “Is this about your long day or about what Josie holding in her hand?”

“Landon, just leave it.” Hope said firmly. “Please I am asking you to drop it. Just not now. I will talk to you tomorrow I promise.”

“You are just making me tense Hope. What happened? Why are you in some big men’s clothing? Why do you look like a tornado went through you?” He asked suspicions.

“What are you suggesting Landon? If you want to know what happened ask Rafael. I am exhausted and just want this day to be over so please just go.” Hope said annoyed and tired.

“So are you hiding Landon’s family in there? Because this spell doesn’t lie and you know that.” Josie said with suspicion.

“Oh for fuck’s sake can you just leave?” Hope frowned at Josie. He saw Landon would’ve let this go if it wasn’t for Josie. She probably didn’t like the way Hope was talking to Landon but Hope really had enough of that day.

“Hope what the hell.” Landon looked at her with examining eyes. “Tell me Josie is wrong and we leave.” He said it in a calm tone.

Hope knew it was pointless to lie. This was a nightmare already. How could this day get any worse? So she prepared herself. This would be the day Landon leaves her.

“Josie is not wrong.” Hope shrugged.

“What?? You knew I had family and you didn’t say anything?” He asked, confused.

“It’s not like that Landon…” Hope tried to say something to defend herself but it was really useless. Whatever Landon was thinking the reality was much worse than that.

“Not like what? What the hell did you do? I don’t even know what to think.”

“Did you kidnap someone?” Josie asked angrily. She was going to defend Landon no matter what.

“No, of course not… Just come inside.” Hope said in a sad tone just giving it all up.

She opened the main entrance leading them to the courtyard. Cheerful giggles filled the air as they entered. Lizzie and Scarlett were playing with some childish magic tricks. Hope smiled as she caught their happy faces. Despite everything it was nice to see Scarlett happy and it reminded her why she had to do this. It wasn’t about her even though it was hurting her like hell.

When Lizzie and Scarlett noticed them entering they stopped whatever they were doing. They were sitting on the courtyard sofa. Scarlett looked confused about the two strangers following Hope and Lizzie looked concerned.

“Hope what the hell happened? You look awful.” Lizzie screamed.

“I’m ok. Thank you for asking.” Hope tried to be snarky but she was too exhausted for even that. Lizzie looked really concerned now.

“Dear sister. What are you two doing here?” Lizzie looked at Josie and Landon.

“Look at this. I did the same spell you did a while back.” She headed Lizzie the map. Meanwhile Hope looked at Scarlett and pointed to her own wrist, gesturing her to put her bracelet on so she did. When she put on the bracelet Lizzie gave the map back to Josie.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to see.” She shrugged.

“No, this is impossible. It was just there. We all saw it. How did the line just disappear?” Josie didn’t understand what was happening.

Hope just rolled her eyes. “I’ll explain. Can you all just go sit in the living room? I’ll be there in a minute.”

Landon was staring at Scarlett for the whole time, then they left for the living room. Hope grabbed Scarlett’s arm and dragged her upstairs in Hope’s room.

“What’s happening?” She asked, confused.

“I need to talk to you and I need to change out of these disgusting clothes. So I’ll just do it simultaneously.”

Hope took off her clothes and dropped it on the floor and grabbed some of her own to put on while Scarlett sat on the bed.

“So, Landon your dad. He’s here.” She explained as she was getting dressed. “I just don’t want you to get in an uncomfortable situation so I just lay it out for you. They did some kind of magic and traced you since you weren’t wearing your bracelet probably for a while now.”

“Oh. Sorry. He was looking for me?” Scarlett asked.

“He was looking for some family of his… he didn’t really have any family growing up, but that’s another story. So, he found you. He obviously doesn’t know he has a daughter and I kinda need to tell him now.” Hope mumbled nervously as she tried to brush the bloody lumps off her hair. “I know it’s overwhelming and a lot right now with everything so after I talked to him, I’d like to introduce you to him if you are okay with that.” She tied her hair in a messy bun and turned to Scarlett who looked torn.

“What if he doesn’t like me?” She looked at Hope confused.

“Scarlett, look at me!” Hope sat down next to her and held her hand in hers. She turned to her looking deep into her identical blue eyes. “He will love you, no matter what. I am a hundred percent sure of that.”

“Okay…” She said unsure.

“Okay.” Hope repeated her and took a deep breath. “I’ll send Lizzie up to keep you company until then. Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine.” Hope wasn’t sure if she was trying to comfort Scarlett or herself. Hope still sat on the bed breathing heavily, unable to move.

“Are you nervous?”

“Yeah, you know… he will definitely hate me after I tell him. “Hope said worried and closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself. Scarlett laid her head oh Hope’s shoulders.

“You said you love him.” Scarlett said quietly.

“Yeah” Hope said vaguely, taking another deep breath, putting her arm around Scarlett.

They sat there like that quietly for a moment before Hope broke away. She kissed Scarlett’s forehead and looked into her eyes once more. “I love you.” Hope said smiling then got up from the bed and left the room leaving Scarlett there. She needed to remind herself once again that she was doing this for the two people she loved the most.

Hope walked into the living room, everyone was staring at her. They were all standing around anxiously.

“Are you going to talk now, Hope?” Landon asked, staring at her as she entered.

“Yes, Landon.” She said surely. “Josie, Lizzie, could you two please give us some privacy?”

“I don’t know… I rather stay with Landon.” Josie said unsure. Hope rolled her eyes and Lizzie grabbed Josie’s arm dragging her out.

“She’s not gonna eat him Jo.” Lizzie said.

“Lizzie, could you please go upstairs to my room until we talk?” Hope asked her. She nodded as they left the living room.

Hope sat down to the couch, patted the place next to her for Landon to sit. He sat down leaving a large space between them. Hope faced Landon and he turned to her too. She inhaled and exhaled slowly.

“Who was that girl, Hope?” He asked curiously. He probably guessed it was about her… she was the only one there he didn’t know and the map led them to her.

“Her name is Scarlett… and she is your daughter.” She finally said it. Her heart was beating so loud that she didn’t hear anything else at that moment.

Landon didn’t react. He was sitting quietly and staring at her. Hope tried to read his expression but couldn’t. He sat there silently for minutes. The tension was thick in the air, Hope could only hear her own heart beating, couldn’t even focus on his. She was terrified of losing Landon although she didn’t see anger in his eyes. He was still trying to process what Hope had told him.

“My daughter?” He asked confused looking at Hope now.

“Yes Landon.” Hope answered clearly.

“Your daughter? Our daughter?” He was still confused trying to puzzle the pieces together.

“Yes, ours. We made her.” She wanted to be as clear as possible.

“I don’t understand Hope. Did I forget about her too?”

“No Landon. I mean I was pregnant when I jumped into Malivore but I didn’t know it either. I found out months later… I already left Mystic Falls by then.” Hope explained hoping he would understand.

“And when you found out you didn’t think to tell me?” Landon asked curiously. He was getting at the part what Hope dreaded, but he was calm, there was no anger in him.

“You didn’t remember me. I was terrified of your reaction.” She said honestly, still terrified.

“I still don’t remember you Hope, not before Malivore… and you’re telling me know? I mean we have been dating for almost 2 months now and you never thought to mention it?”

“I’m sorry. I was going to tell you, that’s why I invited you for dinner. I was trying to talk to you for the past couple of months, but I just couldn’t. I’m sorry, I know I was selfish, but I was so scared to lose what we had.” She blurted out at once. She just wanted him to know how sorry she was.

Landon was quiet again. He was staring at her trying to take everything in.

“Scarlett? My daughter...my child.” He said it out loud trying to process and understand it. Hope nodded quietly. “How old is she?” He asked.

“Fifteen.” She said quietly.

“Fifteen.” Landon repeated her. “Not much of a child anymore.” He wondered out loud then his eyes suddenly changed. His look was distant. Like he was looking at some stranger. A shiver ran through Hope’s spine. “Fifteen years? I had a child for the past fifteen years and you never told me!” He said in a calm voice, but his eyes were dark and cold.

“I know what I did was unforgivable. But it was a really hard time for me so can you please listen… just please listen what I have to say.” Hope was so scared of his reaction. He was looking at her bitterly and Hope already saw the rejection in his eyes. She didn’t even know what to tell him. She didn’t remember anything about her speech she practiced all night. She had nothing. Hope inhaled and exhaled slowly trying to gather her thoughts. She wanted to cry already seeing the look on his face.

“I’m listening” Landon said impatiently.

“Amm… you know why I left Mystic Falls I told you that already… I told you why I came here to New Orleans. I was heartbroken and alone, this city was the only thing I could hold on to, the only way I felt connected to my family. I was trying to adapt to my new life without you, without all of you when I found out I was pregnant. I took it pretty hard Landon… It was…it was a really difficult time for me. Even though I wanted nothing more than to have you by my side I was unable to tell you… I was unable to do anything at all… I couldn’t even be a mother. I had…”

“What do you mean you couldn’t be a mother?” He interrupted Hope.

“Ohh…” Hope breathed heavy but the air didn’t seem to fill her lugs. She was a sweating mess. “I just couldn’t… I had to give her up, I couldn’t take care of a baby Landon… I was really sick.”

“I’m sorry… What did you do?” Landon asked furiously. “You had to give her up? Your child? My child? You abandoned my child?” He was extremely mad, he got up from the couch and turned away from her walking up and down in the room. Hope thought she was prepared for his anger, but she was wrong. It hurt her more than she thought it would.

“Landon, please try to understand.” Hope’s voice was shaking, and her eyes filled with tears.

“You’re asking me to understand? I was abandoned by my mother the day I was born, left on the steps of a church. I suffered through my whole childhood because of her decision and I promised to myself if I ever have my own family, no matter the circumstances I would stand by them always. You didn’t just take away the opportunity to raise my child you did the one thing I promised to never do. I’m sorry, but I cannot possibly understand.”

“Landon… I didn’t leave her like that… I knew her mother, I knew where she was.” She said crying.

“It doesn’t really make me feel any better. If you didn’t want her you should have at least considered me. Instead, my daughter was raised by strangers.” He wasn’t yelling or raising his voice, but his tone was cold, and hurt.

“I’m sorry…” That all she could say between her sobs.

“I can’t do this anymore Hope. I knew you were hiding something all this time… but I never thought… Hope I just can’t do this…I can’t even look at you.” He said quietly walking toward the living room door intended to leave.

“Landon, please.” She sobbed. “I love you.” Hope said but he didn’t stop, he was opening the door. “Please don’t go.” She pleaded but it was in vain. “Please at least meet her… she wants to know you.” He turned around looking at Hope finally. She was a mess sitting on the couch.

“I’m upset Hope. I need to process this. I don’t want her to see me like this, I need to calm down. I will text you… or something. I need to think… just tell her I want to get to know her too. Okay?” He said rather calm than upset. Hope nodded then he left.

She sat there for a while taking a moment to herself.

She really did tell Landon finally. And Landon did leave her… of course he did, she knew he would, but it still broke her heart.

She went to a bathroom downstairs to wash her face then she headed upstairs to her bedroom. She thought they would be in there but when she wanted to enter, she heard them from Scarlett’s room, so she knocked on her door. Scarlett told her to go in. Lizzie and Scarlett were sitting on her bed reading comics.

“I always knew you were a nerd secretly.” Hope said smiling as she entered the room.

“I also married a nerd so…it’s not really a secret anymore.” Lizzie giggled then looked at Hope. Her eyes were bloody red and it made Lizzie concerned. “How did it go?” She asked.

“You know… just how I expected to go…” She shrugged with a sad smile. “Josie?” Hope asked and walked towards the bed to sit by the girls.

“Landon texted her about 20 minutes ago… and she left with him.” Lizzie said.

“So, he didn’t want to see me I guess…” Scarlett asked, looking at Hope.

“No Scarlett, he wanted to see you.” Hope grabbed her hand, holding it gently. “He was upset with me… he just didn’t want you to see him upset the first time you ever meet.” Hope explained stroking her hand lightly.

“He was really mad at you?” Scarlett asked quietly.

“Yeah he was. And he has every right to be mad at me. I took you from him and I took him from you… I know it’s messed up and I regret it now but everything was so different back then.”

“How about we get our memories back? I’ll ask Josie to help tomorrow. Maybe he’ll ease up on you if he remembers your past together… maybe remember how you made her.” Lizzie said pointing at Scarlett.

“Ew… gross. I don’t need that image in my mind.” Scarlett made a disgusted face.

“Fine.” Hope giggled. “Ask her… if she’s still willing to help after today.”

“If you’re still willing to help the twins.” Lizzie shrugged.

“Of course, I’ll do what I can.” Hope said yawning. “I’m just exhausted after everything today… I need to lie down… are you hungry? I can order something for dinner.” Hope asked Scarlett.

“Don’t worry about that, we already ordered. I’ll take care of it. Go sleep!” Lizzie instructed.

“Ok. Thank you Lizzie, for everything.” Hope hugged her then she hugged Scarlett and left the room.

Hope entered her own room and took a hot bath. She tried to relax in the bathtub but everything happened that day came flashing in her mind. She cleaned herself quickly and dressed into a shirt Landon left at her place. It smelled like him and it made her calm and relaxed. She settled comfortably in her bed which also smelled like Landon. She went to sleep imagining he is right next to her and everything was just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to ease a little on the angst, probably will have some more though later as Landon processed the whole situation.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the longer wait for this chapter. Thank you everyone who is still reading, love all of you!!!
> 
> Finally a hosie friendship moment in this chapter.

Hope woke up around 10 the next morning. She didn’t plan to sleep in, she wanted to get up bright and early. She wanted to check on Sadie and the hybrids to see if they find Amy Arnold. Then she wanted to train with the hybrids. Anything to get her mind off Landon and the coldness she felt from him the night before. She got ready for the day and went to the kitchen to grab some food.

When she walked downstairs she entered the dining room, because she heard people talking. When she entered to her surprise breakfast was served and Scarlett, Lizzie, Josie, Raf and Brook were sitting at the dining room table eating.

“Hope, finally your awake. Come eat.” Lizzie giggled.

“Amm… good morning.” Hope greeted the group. “What’s happening?” She asked.

“I stayed the night. Hope you don’t mind. Then I called Josie over you know to do the spell we talked about… Then these two just showed up.” Lizzie shrugged pointing at Raf and Brook.

“You find her?” Hope was looking at Brook. She shook her head.

“She’s cloaked. Probably found a witch.” Brook answered.

“Fuck!” Hope cursed then sat down grabbing something to eat.

“Who? That hunter bitch? You said you’re going to kill her!” Scarlet frowned.

“I intended to kill her but not everything went as we planned yesterday.” Hope explained vaguely.

“I knew I should’ve done it myself.” Scarlett said all annoyed.

“You are not going to kill anyone especially not a human!” Hope said firmly.

“God… she really is your daughter.” Josie interrupted. “I mean murderous tendencies…” Both Hope and Scarlett shot Josie an irritated glare.

“Your daughter?” Brook asked all confused. “I thought you were Abigail’s kid… Oh and I’m sorry for your loss.” The hybrid said sincerely.

“Thanks…” Scarlett said quietly. “She adopted me after Hope had me.” The girl shrugged.

“You two are not going to talk about this to anyone.” Hope told the two hybrids in the room. She noticed Scarlett’s looked changed for a moment. She looked…hurt? Hope didn’t really understand it, she decided to talk to her later about why it is not too smart to blurt out to the world that there is one more Mikaelson a possible tribrid in existence.

“They really do everything you say? Like they are unable to speak about Scarlett?” Lizzie wondered out loud and Hope just rolled her eyes. “Hey Raf, tell me who is this girl to Hope.” Lizzie asked and Rafael was physically unable to tell.

“Stop it!” Hope hit Lizzie’s arm firmly, who sat next to her.

“You know his Landon’s best friend… it’s kinda cruel if they can’t talk about her…” Josie added.

“Fine, you can talk to Landon about her.” Hope shrugged.

“Why? Is he like mad at you because you have a kid? I know it was going pretty smooth between you two.” Raf said.

“Because she’s Landon’s kid you dumbass.” Lizzie said.

“What? Landon’s? How?” He asked confused.

“You know what you ask him. We don’t have time for this now. You two go help the others find that bitch. Come back tomorrow morning, I will need a training session. Hope instructed her hybrids. “Now let’s work on that spell.” She looked at the girls.

“We’ll go, just Rafael needs access if he’s going to stay here as one of us. He can’t be stuck to my side forever.” Brooke said.

“Raf has a choice. He doesn’t need to stay, he’s not a crescent and he didn’t choose to be a hybrid.”

“But I want to Hope. I told you, I found my pack here and after everything happened yesterday… after Alex… I know I am needed, and I need them and I need you Hope.” Raf said all emotional. Hope just rolled her eyes. Fine, I give you access but you can still leave if you want to.

Hope did the spell for Rafael, than the hybrids left to find the missing hunter girl. The four of them went to the library to work on the spell to get their memories back. Josie helped translating the spell while Hope tried to rewrite it for their purpose. Hope tried to explain Scarlett what she was doing while Lizzie was on her phone probably texting MG. Hope and Josie didn’t talk at all only what was necessary for the spell. Hope felt pretty uncomfortable as she caught Josie staring her judgingly from time to time.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but just got a text from Landon. He asked me if I was still with you guys… he wants to meet Scarlett.” Lizzie said.

“He said he’ll text me …” Hope shrugged with a sad expression.

“Don’t judge him, he’s going through a lot. I don’t think he’s ready to talk to you in any way.” Josie added.

“I don’t judge him Josie. And I get it… even if he never talks to me.” Hope replied but her voice was trembling.

“I’d like to meet him.” Scarlett said quietly.

“Sure.” Hope smiled at her.

“You wanna do it now? He’s free and I can see this spell writing is boring you like hell.” Lizzie asked as she was texting.

“But I don’t know, I thought Hope would be there… I don’t even know him.” Scarlett said unsure looking at Hope.

“Yeah, it’s pretty overwhelming, I don’t want you to go meet with him alone. I really should be there even though he doesn’t want me anywhere near him.” Hope said.

“I can go with you. I know it’s not the same, but you don’t have to be alone and in this case we can give the space Landon needs from…. Hope.” Lizzie suggested.

“Would that be okay?” Hope asked Scarlett.

“I guess.” Scarlett shrugged.

“Then let’s get out of here and let them do the boring work.” Lizzie got up and gestured Scarlet to go with her. As they left the library, Hope mouthed a thank you to Lizzie.

Hope and Jose worked quietly for a while, only talked to each other when necessary.

“What is it Josie?” Hope snapped when she caught another glimpse of Josie’s judging stare while she worked on the papers.

“Nothing.” Josie shrugged but Hope was still looking at her questioning. “You know, we talked all night with Landon last night… I just don’t understand… as a mother… How could you leave your own baby? It’s not like you couldn’t afford a child… I mean come on, you leave in a freaking mansion. And why did you even think leaving Landon out of it was a good idea?” She asked all pissed, she was hurting for Landon.

“I was in a messed up situation but I get it why you are pissed and I really don’t expect you to understand me so I won’t bore you with the details. But I do regret everything Josie… I wish I could’ve told Landon, but I was too depressed and too much of a coward… I wish I had at least one person who really knew me to be there and just kick my ass to go to Landon and tell him everything… but it wasn’t the case, so here we are.” Hope said as a tear rolled down her face then she got back to work.

Hope worked quietly on the spell, rewriting with the translation Josie gave her. It was silent in the room. Josie sat on a chair next to Hope. She still felt her staring but didn’t want to elaborate anymore. It was a long silence before Josie broke it.

“So no one was there… when you were pregnant? When you had your baby?” Josie asked.

“Umm…” Hope was surprised at her question, but she didn’t really feel like talking about her experience with Josie. Not now, how she was judging and treating her lately. “There was a woman from the pack, she ended up adopting Scarlett.” Hope said vaguely.

“But she didn’t know you…” Josie added.

“No one knew me Josie... and I know I should’ve told you guys. But guess what I was a teenager in a really fucked up situation. You and Landon were dating, I wasn’t going to ruin it for you and I felt like I had no place in your life anymore. You, all of you were so happy. Then it just got more complicated with the baby… “ Hope snapped at her. “I am aware I hurt Landon, I know I made stupid decisions but I can’t do anything to change it. All I can do is apologize…” In her frustration tears started to fall from her eyes.

“I just… I have no idea what I would’ve done without Penelope when I had our babies or without my mom and dad and Lizzie or all our friends. I can’t imagine how difficult must have been for you at such young age without your family… I’m sorry you had to go through that alone.” Jose said it all sincerely.

Hope was surprised, she didn’t expect any sympathy from Josie. Sure she knew Josie in the past, she knew she was a kind empathic person, but that was a long time ago and since then she didn’t show any interest in Hope, though Hope missed her friend dearly. Hope didn’t feel as tense anymore as before, but her eyes were still teary. She scribbled something on the paper, not looking up or responding to Josie’s words. It was another long silence and Hope broke it this time.

“I think we are ready.” Hope looked up to Josie now, her tears all dried up.

“You wanna do the spell?” Josie asked.

“I would screw up the pronunciation. If you don’t mind… I’m pretty sure the spell will have some ill effects.” Hope handed the paper to Josie with the spell on it.

“Sure, it’s fine. Since the merge I learned to handle dark magic.” Josie said. “You want me to do it right now?” She asked.

“When you blast the spell it will affect everyone who lost their memory due to Malivore… so there’s no right time for it. You can do it when you are ready… I am ready.” Hope smiled.

With that, Josie siphoned Hope and got up from her chair. She practiced the spell silently a couple of times before she blasted it with full force. When she finished the spell she passed out. Hope ran to her side worried, tried to wake her up. After a couple attempts Josie woke up. She looked dizzy and had cloudy eyes.

“Josie? You okay?” Hope asked worried as she helped her to sit up. “Jo?” Hope looked at her worried as she didn’t say anything. Josie looked up to Hope who was kneeling beside her. Josie stared into her blue eyes, as her brown ones started to tear up. She suddenly grabbed Hope and hugged her tightly.

“Hope” Jose said teary eyed as she let her go.

“You ok?” Hope asked once more.

“Yeah, I remember.” and she hugged Hope again. “I remember you.” Hope started to cry as she reciprocated her hug. 

They hugged on the library floor for long minutes before they let go of each other.

They got up from the floor to sit on a couch in the library.

“I’m sorry I was kind of a jerk to you.” Josie apologized.

“I get it Jo… I am the only one to blame here. I wasn’t straight with Landon and you are a good friend of his.” Hope said smiling at her.

“So, Hope Mikaelson… The queen of New Orleans. huh?” Josie laughed. “Wouldn’t have imagined your future in any other way… You’re powerful, you’re good… perfect fit.” Josie smiled.

“It was kind of the only thing left to do… taking after my dad, making my parents proud. It was my goal after I lost everything and everyone… and it kept me busy from thinking about Landon, you, my baby…” Hope smiled sadly.

“I really wish you would’ve told us.”

“Yeah, me too… do you think he’ll ever forgive me?” Hope asked Josie.

“Honestly… I have no idea. He loves you that’s for sure but I just don’t know if his love for you is enough to forgive you. First, you never told him you exist then you never told him you were having his baby. After you had her instead of telling him he is a father you gave your baby up for adoption and kept her a secret for fifteen years. Now that he was back in your life and you two were actually together you still kept quiet and lied about Scarlett. That’s just too much for him to swallow.” Josie explained.

“Yeah when you lay it out like that… I guess I really am the worst person… I hate that I was so weak I hate myself for it. I never wanted to hurt Landon or Scarlett but all I ever did was hurting them.” Hope said turning away from Josie as she started tearing up again.

“And yourself… you were hurting yourself the most.” Josie added.

“I don’t care about me… I was selfish for a too long, I don’t want to be anymore. I didn’t tell Landon in the last couple of months because I was too selfish. I just missed him so much, it was so unreal and wonderful to be with him again. I was so afraid to lose him… I was so afraid to be alone again.” Hope cried.

“Well you’re not alone. You have Lizzie and me, even though I don’t agree with your actions, you are my friend Hope and I won’t leave you. Okay? And you have your girl. I saw how she acts around you, she is so attached to you, she clearly loves you. “ Josie said smiling as Hope looked at her with teary eyes.

“Thanks for saying that. I appreciate you and Lizzie so much, you have no idea how much I missed you guys. And Scarlett… she just lost her mother she’s attached because she had no one else. I’m trying my best with her I really don’t want to screw this up, I love her so much.” Hope replied as she cried.

“Of course you do, you are her mom. The bad news about parenting is you are always going to worry about screwing up… nothing is going to change that and maybe you will sometimes but you know being there for her and loving her is just enough and you have that covered so you and Scarlett are going to be just fine, that I am sure of.” Josie gave a gentle squeeze to Hope’s arm and stroked her softly.

“Thanks Jo.” Hope smiled “Do you want to see what I was working on regarding the merge?”

“Sure” Josie smiled back at her.

Hope and Josie worked together harmoniously for hours on the merge like the two best friends from high school working on a school project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be Landon meeting Scarlett. Until now I kinda did Hope pov so I am not sure yet how I will continue with LandonxScarlettxLizzie meeting... Which pov do you guys prefer? I haven't started writing yet.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone who's still here and reading! Sorry for the long wait, my whole family including me got covid and were pretty sick the past couple of weeks. Everyone is fine now, my only symptom left is that I cannot taste or smell anything, but it's all good.  
> The next month or so I will be moving, so I'm not sure how I will upload the next chapters, but I'll try my best. I will definitely continue and finish this story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I did Landon's POV. I'm not sure about it, I might not do this POV anymore. Not my favorite chapter.  
> Hope you guys will like it though.

Landon managed to sleep a couple of hours that night. He and Josie were talking for hours, he unloaded everything Hope told him the evening. After they went to their separate rooms, he still couldn’t go to sleep. His mind just wouldn’t shut down. He thought about Hope and the perfect couple of months they spent together. He was so sure she was it for him. She was his one true love. His only love. Words couldn’t describe how much he loved her. He ached for her closeness, for her smell, for her taste. He missed her right at that moment as he laid alone in his bed. Then he thought of her lies. He knew she was lying, he felt she was hiding something. The way her voice changed just slightly, the way her eyes stopped sparkling when she was dishonest with him. He knew it all along but just let it slide because it was Hope. He’s only love. What could she possibly lie about? And now Landon knew… he had a daughter. They had a daughter.

Landon always imagined having a big family. He wanted at least four or five kids, some biological, some adopted from foster care. He wanted to experience it all. He wanted to be there for the pregnancy with his partner, the birth of his child. He wanted the experience to be a first time father with a newborn baby. He imagined seeing his child grow up. He wanted to be there for their first steps, their first day of school, he wanted to comfort them at their first heartbreak. But he missed it all, he missed it with Scarlett. She was fifteen years old and he had no idea she existed. He was wondering how her life turned out to be. He hoped she was loved and well taken care of... Hope gave her to someone she knew so he hoped at least Scarlett had a good home.

Hope… she gave her away. The mere thought made him sick. He hated Hope for this. As much as he missed his love at this moment the thought of her made him furious. He couldn’t stand her, he would never understand her actions and he would never forgive her for this.

Landon just tossed and turned in his bed with anger and fury invading his mind. He slowly managed to fall asleep gaining at least a few hours of quiet dreamless sleep that night.

When he woke up he was alone in the apartment. Josie already left and it seemed like Lizzie never made her way back home. Rafael had moved in with the hybrids since he turned so Landon was all alone that morning. He made some coffee and sat down on the living room couch reading while he was sipping on the coffee. As he was reading his thoughts constantly slipped to the recent events. After a while he just put down his book as he was unable to focus. He thought about his daughter again. He wondered what kind of person she turned out to be. He was eager to get to know her but he had fears. He had no idea how to go about it. It’s not like she was a newborn baby relying on her parents, but she was still his daughter… who apparently already had parents, her adoptive parents. Scarlett wanted to get to know him but she surely didn’t need him. But it had to be enough for Landon… he missed his chance to be a real father thanks to Hope. Before the anger could get his better half again, he quickly grabbed his phone. He wanted to get in touch with Scarlett. He was debating to text Hope but he couldn’t even stand the thought of talking to her. He decided to ask Lizzie, she probably spent the night at Hope’s place anyway.

‘Hey Liz, you still at Hope’s? I was wondering if you could get in touch with Scarlett somehow. Would be nice to get to know her. I’m free all day, hope we can set up a meeting or something…’ Landon sent the text to Lizzie. He received a reply in about 10 minutes.

‘She’d be happy to see you. Lunch date?’

‘Great! What does she like? Where should we go?’ Landon replied quickly to Lizzie’s message.

‘Calm down… There’s that little sandwich place near our apartment. Let’s meet there at noon. I’ll go with her.’

‘Thank you Lizzie!’

Landon still had about an hour until noon. He took a quick shower then dressed in jeans and a simple T-shirt. He was really nervous about meeting with his daughter. He was walking up and down in the living room thinking how he should go about it or what he should ask. He soon realized it was almost noon, so he grabbed his wallet and cell phone and headed to the place they would meet.

Landon opened the door to the sandwich place and immediately noticed Lizzie and Scarlett sitting at one of the tables next to the window. They were talking and laughing. For a moment he watched his daughter. She looked so much like Hope, her eyes, her expressions, the way she smiled with her eyes. After a moment of staring they noticed Landon entering the shop. He walked to the table where the girls were sitting. He greeted both of them and set down next to Lizzie, across Scarlett. A waitress made her way to the table and gave a menu to Landon.

“We already ordered.” Lizzie added.

Landon quickly ordered the first thing he saw on the menu. He was so nervous he couldn’t think of the choice of food.

“So, how are you doing? You both spent the night at Hope’s?” Landon asked the girls casually trying not to look too nervous, to start some kind of conversation.

“Yeah” Scarlett said and Lizzie nodded. “I kinda live there now.” Scarlett added.

“Really? How come?” Landon asked curiously, he was sure the girl lived with her adoptive parents.

“The attack on the pack… my house burned down.” Scarlett answered vaguely.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry, I had no idea. Are you and your family doing ok?” Landon asked her. Scarlett looked down at the table, she seemed uncomfortable and sad. Landon immediately knew something bad happened and he scolded himself in his thoughts to even ask her. But how the hell he supposed to know? Hope should’ve told him, it was her fault too… although it’s not like he let her tell him anything, he was so mad at her.

“I wasn’t home that night, I was at a friend’s house…” She said quietly, indicating that she was okay. “My mom has passed.” Scarlett said sadly.

“Oh God I am so sorry.” Landon said in shock. Hope really should have told him. Poor girl, it all just happened to her recently, he could see she was hurting. He wished he could comfort her somehow but he wouldn’t. He barely knew her. He also wondered about the father… if she has or had one, Scarlett only mentioned her mother. He really wanted to ask, but didn’t want to bring up more painful memories. Maybe he’ll ask Lizzie later.

“So, I was thinking after lunch we could watch an Avengers movie or something.” Lizzie said, breaking the sad atmosphere.

“Yes, Endgame please!” Scarlett replied smiling.

“Obviously, that’s the best.” Landon smiled back at her and Lizzie, thanking silently for changing the subject. Landon just didn’t want their first conversation to be so heavy, he obviously wanted to know more about Scarlett’s parents and her situation but not at the first 5 minutes of their meeting.

Meanwhile the waitress got their food. They started eating and they were talking a lot about the Avengers and various superheroes. They had fun, they talked and laughed a lot.

“Did you know we kinda had our own monster slaying Avenger squad when we were in high school?” Lizzie asked smiling.

“No way! You really killed monsters? Like real ones?” Scarlett asked curiously.

“Very real ones. First one I ever saw was a dragon, a real fire breathing dragon who could take a human form.” Landon said.

“No, I don’t believe that. Dragons don’t exist.” Scarlett said laughing.

“It does. Well not anymore probably not… Hope destroyed all of them but they were real.” Lizzie said. “Even unicorns.”

“Sure unicorns… “ Scarlett rolled her eyes in disbelief. “So how did you kill a dragon?” Scarlett asked Landon.

“Umm… I ran…It was the first I saw I was just a terrified kid.” Landon laughed embarrassed. “Then I think Alaric, Lizzie and Josie’s dad killed it, I am not even sure how it happened now that I think about it.” Landon said unsure.

“Probably Hope… “ Lizzie shrugged. “But we will remember her soon.”

“Hmm…” Landon just nodded, didn’t really want to talk about her.

“She and Josie are working on the spell.” Scarlett added. “Maybe you can tell me more about your monster killing adventures after you remember what exactly happened… but I will ask Hope to verify. Dragons and unicorns… maybe you two just read too much comic books.” Scarlett laughed.

“Look who’s talking… besides Landon is a phoenix probably you have some part of that too.” Lizzie said.

“What is a phoenix anyway?” Scarlett asked Landon. “I mean I know you’re immortal and you obviously look younger that you actually are, so you don’t age like a vampire I guess…” She added.

“Yes, every time after I die, I burn and reborn from the ashes. I didn’t age since the first time I died.” He explained.

“Have you died many times? Is it painful to die?” Scarlett asked curiously.

“I can feel pain the same way as anyone I guess. The only thing I don’t feel is fire, it doesn’t hurt and I can’t burn.” Landon answered.

“Do you have any other abilities?” She asked.

“I can fly. I can kinda manipulate fire, I mean I can make myself burn and turn the fire into a weapon but I never had any reason to use it like that.”

“Wow maybe you can teach me to fly, that would be cool and use fire as well. Hope though me some fire magic and I’m pretty good at that but this sounds fun.” She smiled.

“I’m not sure if it’s possible, my abilities only came after I died, but maybe we can try it sometime. The fire only… flying is dangerous.” Landon smiled.

“I heal really fast” Scarlett giggled.

“I don’t doubt that but I still don’t want you to get hurt.” Landon insisted.

“Fine… “ She added slightly disappointed.

“Let’s get back to our apartment and watch that movie.” Lizzie added.

They paid and got out of the building. They were chit chatting as they walked back to the apartment. Scarlett had million other questions about being a phoenix and Landon tried to answer as much as he could. They settled on the couch and Landon set the movie to play. Meanwhile Lizzie got them some soda and made popcorn. All of them saw the movie a million times so they basically just watched it in the background as they talked. After a while Lizzie disappeared in her bedroom. Probably wanted the two of them to have some alone time to talk but she was still close by if Scarlett felt uncomfortable or needed her. But after she left they just watched the movie quietly. Landon wanted to say something, he wanted to know more about her. As he was thinking on a way to start a conversation again, Scarlett was the one who broke the silence.

“You know I was wondering… what if I die… am I going to be a vampire or rise like a phoenix?” She wondered curiously.

“I have no idea… you have vampire blood right? You said you heal fast… so I’m pretty sure that’s inevitable. Maybe you’ll be both…but hopefully we won’t find out for a very long time.” Landon smiled and turned to her direction on the couch completely ignoring the movie. “I also wanted to ask, how are you doing? There must been so much change in your life recently. Meeting with me the first time, moving in with Hope after what happened in the Bayou. Are you okay?” He asked concerned.

“Yeah… it’s true, everything has changed. I really miss my mom, it was just her and me for all these years. It’s different now without her, but I think she would be happy to see that Hope and I actually have a good relationship and that I’m getting to know you. I think I’m going to be okay.” Scarlett smiled at him.

“I am truly sorry for your loss.” Landon said slightly touching her arm. “I know we just met but if you need anything at all you can always come to me.” He said looking right into her blue eyes.

“Thanks.” She said quietly.

“Did you have a father?” Landon asked her.

“No, it was just me and my mom. She never had a husband… she had a wife before I was born, but I never met her either. So it was just the two of us.” Scarlett explained.

“Hmm…” Landon nodded quietly. He really thought she had parents, a father even but she didn’t and never had. He started to get mad…mad at Hope. It’s one thing that she took away his rights to be a father in the past fifteen years but Scarlett never had a chance to have a dad either. “I can’t believe she did this.” Landon said it out loud. He tried not to talk about Hope, he didn’t really want this to be about her, but it was all about her. Her decisions, her life…

“I know… but she did what she thought was best.” Scarlett said trying to defend Hope’s decision.

“I’m sure you had a wonderful mother Scarlett… but it wasn’t right for Hope to do that…hell I don’t even remember being with her but I really don’t care, I just wanted you, I wanted to be your father. She just took that away from the both of us and we’ll never get it back… I’m sorry you grew up without a father when I could’ve been there for you.” Landon sadly added.

“I’m fifteen… I’m not grown up yet.” Scarlett said with a single tear in her eye.

“Of course, I know.” He grabbed Scarlett’s hand and stroked it gently. “I intend to be there for you from now on, if you want that too. I’d really like to be your father.” Landon squeezed her hand gently as he looked into her teary eyes.

“I’d like that too.” She said quietly as she started to cry. Landon sat closer to her and pulled her in for a hug. Scarlett hugged him back and cried quietly on his chest. Landon got emotional tearing up as well. They sat there for a while hugging each other.

The next moment Landon felt a sharp headache. He quickly pulled away from Scarlett, then everything went dark. Then he saw her. He saw everything about her. His mind was overflowing with memories of Hope. From the first time they met in the Mystic Grill until their last moment at the Triad headquarters. Everything came rushing in his mind. Landon not only saw Hope, but he remembered meeting his mother Seylah as well. It was overwhelming. He opened his eyes, he was laying on the couch in the apartment. Scarlett was standing next to him, sobbing.

“Are you ok? What happened? Lizzie is out too. What’s going on?” She cried worried. Landon wanted to comfort her but it took him a moment to get up and reply. “I’ll call Hope.” Scarlett holding her phone as her hand was shaking.

“I’m ok, it’s ok.” Landon replied in a shaky voice not too convincing. After a couple of seconds he was sitting up. “I’m fine, really… it’s the memories…” He said vaguely. “Would you check on Lizzie?” Scarlett nodded in silent and ran to Lizzie’s room.

Landon sat on the couch holding his head in his hands. The movie was still on. Landon grabbed the remote and turned it off. His head was swirling with all the memories of Hope. Lizzie and Scarlett were walking out of the room. They sat by Landon on the couch.

“That was intense.” Lizzie said. “Can’t believe we forgot about her.” She added.

“Yeah…” Landon said quietly.

“So you remember? You remember Hope?” Scarlett asked them, looking at Landon mostly.

“Yes, I remember her.” Landon said plainly.

“And how do you feel about her?” Scarlett asked curiously, looking at Landon.

“I didn’t need the memories to know how I feel about her. I love her, but it’s not going to change anything. I can’t forgive her for taking you away from me, for giving you away… especially now that I remember what we were to each other. I don’t know how could she leave like that.” Landon shook his head in disbelief.

He noticed that Scarlett looked sad. She maybe thought that remembering Hope would change something. Now that he remembered it probably made it worse. He remembered the love he had for Hope and the way she loved him. They were so young and so in love. And Hope just left him. That alone made him mad… then the whole situation with Scarlett just made him furious.

“She left because you were with Josie... she thought you two were happier without her.” Lizzie added. “She said that a million times. Just try to imagine yourself in her place. She was a seventeen year old kid all alone in the world. She had no one, no family, no friends... seeing you with Josie broke her heart… she had a really hard time Landon.” Lizzie said.

“She really just should have told me about her and Scarlett…” Landon said in a sad voice.

“I think I’m gonna go home.” Scarlett interrupted them with a sad look in her eyes.

“I’ll take you, I wanna see Hope.” Lizzie said.

Landon walked them to the front door. He and Scarlett exchanged numbers. He gave her a quick hug before they left the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!! Love you all who still stuck by!


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer than I expected. I was thinking of making two chapters out of it but it just tied together as a whole. Hope you'll like it.  
> Love you all!!

It was the middle of summer, about a month passed since Hope told Landon about Scarlett’s existence and since Landon and Scarlett met for the first time. Scarlett seemed to be doing better and better every day since her mom passed away. She finished ninth grade in her school in New Orleans and now she was on summer break. She still spent a lot of time with her friends from school. Scarlett also spent a lot of her time with Landon. They got along very well. Hope never seen them together, she didn’t see Landon since that evening, but Scarlett was always happy to see his dad, and Hope frequently overheard them talking on the phone. She didn’t mean to pry, but sometimes she just couldn’t help herself when she heard her talking to Landon. She missed him so much and hearing his voice always made her smile especially the way he talked to Scarlett. She had no doubt Landon would be a great father and he didn’t disappoint, he was amazing to Scarlett. They joked and laughed a lot, they talk about a lot of nerdy stuff Hope barely understood. But what Hope loved about him most that he was so sweet, caring and understanding towards Scarlett. Hope heard them talk a lot about their past. He wouldn’t really talk about Hope, mostly of their school experiences and about the monsters. Scarlett seemed to enjoy these stories. Hope and Scarlett’s relationship was in a good place as well. Hope got used to Scarlett being around all the time. She loved her girl and loved spending time with her. They continued their magic training and Scarlett was improving by every day. Even though Landon didn’t want to do anything with Hope, she was happy at least Scarlett was in her life. When they spent time together she never felt lonely, she had no idea how much she missed her daughter all these years. She finally felt like she had family again and it wasn’t just her against the world.

She also had her friends she loved as her sisters, Josie and Lizzie. Lizzie recently left to California to see her husband, so it was a little quiet without her, but they Face Timed all the time. Josie stayed in New Orleans and since the summer break started, Penelope and their boys joined her in the city. Unfortunately Hope didn’t go anywhere with her research on how to break the curse on the merge. She failed at every attempt with writing a spell. She knew she needed an anchor, probably a magical object or something they used in the past creating the curse or she could make one if she knew how the curse was created in the first place. But she found nothing on how the Gemini curse came to be. She felt lost. She really wanted to help Josie and the boys, Hope knew it weighed heavy on Josie and she couldn’t be truly happy until they solve this. Hope was determined to find a solution. She had an idea…to ask help from someone more powerful and much more experienced with magic than she was. But she wanted that to be her last resort. She was terrified of that thought. She was terrified to summon her dead grandmother. So she didn’t mention this to Josie just yet. She still believed to find something on the merge, she could’ve missed something, so she would try to double check all her research before committing to her final resort.

It was a hot summer day and Hope was working in her art room on some paintings. She finally finished repainting the one painting Scarlett lost in the fire. Scarlett wasn’t home that day, she spent her day with Landon. Hope spelled the painting the same way she did before, then took it to Scarlett’s room and nailed it to an empty surface on the wall. When she finished she took a shower to clean herself. Later that afternoon, she would have the monthly meeting with the faction leaders. On the previous month’s meeting they selected the new alpha to the crescent pack. It was the man the wolves voted on, he was the one spoke on Abigail’s funeral. He was an older man, his name was George. He seemed okay and he cared about the pack but Hope didn’t really know him. She missed Abigail and her presence at the meetings so she wasn’t too nice to the new guy. She was also worried because there was no news on Amy Arnold. She knew the meeting will most likely be about how to get to her, but Hope had no idea, they lost the girl. She probably found a real powerful witch to cloak her. They didn’t found any trace of her. It made Hope angry, she was afraid the girl will find allies and attack them once more. She was also worried that now people could remember her and what she was, even her and her family’s enemies. It wasn’t a secret anymore how the city thrived with power and with knowledge they could find weaknesses easier. Hope tried not to wallow herself with worry but to concentrate on preventing another catastrophe. That’s what she will focus on their meeting.

As she suspected the meeting was long and exhausting. All the factions worried as well. Hope tried to be collected and not to show her anxiousness. They agreed on keeping very close eye on every new arrival to the city and strengthen al their recourses among the humans as well. George suggested that Hope should sire more hybrids since they are much more powerful than any of them. All factions seemed to agree and George had volunteers in the pack. Hope was hesitant, she knew what the transition meant for the wolves and she wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea. She was just fine with the five hybrids, although they basically helped Hope run the city Hope didn’t sire them to fight a war… if that would be the case she would need more, she wasn’t about to lose any more hybrids to a fight, perhaps George was right. Hope was debating these thoughts on the drive home from the church where the meeting took place.

When Hope arrived home, she headed to Scarlett’s room to check if she was home. She knocked on the door, though Hope knew already she was there, she could hear her heart beating.

“Come in.” Scarlett answered.

“Hey, how was your day?” Hope asked as she walked towards the girl. Scarlett was sitting on her bed working on something with her computer in her lap.

“Good. Nothing much, we just hang out, ate and watched movies. It was too hot to get outside.” She replied as Hope set by her on the bed. “By the way, thanks for the painting.” Scarlett said smiling pointing at the wall.

“I promised I will remake it for you.” She smiled back at her.

“I love it. And how was your day?” She asked Hope.

“It was fine. I finished that.” Hope said pointing at the painting on the wall. “And the meeting was exhausting, I’m glad I’m finally home.”

“Everything okay? Is there any news on the hunter bitch?”

“No, not yet. We will get her…” Hope answered vaguely. “How is Landon? Is he doing well?” Hope quickly changed the subject, she didn’t want to worry Scarlett with city problems and she really wanted to know about Landon as well.

“Yeah, he’s good…” Scarlett replied rather hesitant.

“What is it? Is he ok?” Hope asked worried.

“Yes, of course he’s fine.” Scarlett assured Hope. “You know he talks a lot about the Salvatore school. You went there too. You liked it there right?” She asked Hope out of nowhere.

“Sure, it was my home for a long time. I started there when I was seven. I learned a lot about magic and everything around it and I got to know so many good people on the way.” She answered passionately, thinking about some of the best years of her life, she spent there.

“Landon finished his studies here and he told me he was thinking about going back to teach there after summer break.” Scarlett told Hope quite anxiously.

“Oh.” Hope didn’t expect that. She should have thought he will go back, that was his original plan but Hope just thought he would stay… He just met Scarlett he would really leave her? Hope thought they were doing good and that he wanted to spend time with her. She didn’t really understand his decision. He would be so far away… she already missed him so much, but the knowledge he was close by in the same city made her calm when she thought about Landon. How will she survive if he leaves? Mystic Falls is too far away. He can’t leave her, he can’t leave them. Maybe he’ll never forgive her, maybe he hates her so much he wants to be as far away from her as possible. She still had hope for him to forgive her and maybe to be with her again, but if he leaves he most likely decided that he never wanted to see Hope again. She couldn’t even blame him… it was all her fault. Hope tried really hard not to get emotional about it in front of Scarlett. It’s not like she could do anything about Landon’s decision.

“There’s still like a month left from the break, he’ll stay until the end of summer.” Scarlett added.

“Hmm…” Hope didn’t know what to say. What could she do in a month? It’s not like she could make him stay. He didn’t want to hear about her in the past month. Hope tried to reach out a handful of times. She texted him at lonely nights when she couldn’t bear to be alone. She left him messages telling him how sorry she was about everything and how much she couldn’t face the future without him in her life. She never got any respond. Hope assumed he deleted her texts or messages without reading or listening. Or maybe he really didn’t care about her anymore. She didn’t know what to do, she couldn’t change his mind in a month.

“You said it was a good school and you liked it there… he suggested maybe I should try it there. He said it would be good for me, I could learn a lot… and I told him I might want to try that school.” Scarlett said quietly on her shy voice.

“What?” Hope suddenly didn’t know what to say. So he wasn’t planning on leaving Scarlett… just her. He wanted to take Scarlett with him, and leaving her alone. Without him, without her daughter. Hope suddenly felt sick. She didn’t want Scarlett to leave… but if that’s what she wanted to do, Hope couldn’t be the one to stop her. It was a good school for Scarlett as it was for Hope, she couldn’t be selfish about it. “I mean it could be good for you. Maybe it’s not a bad idea for you to try the Salvatore school.” Hope said firmly to try to cover her shaking voice. She didn’t want Scarlett to notice how anxious she was about this.

“Yeah, it sounds fun.” Scarlett added with a shrug. Hope couldn’t exactly read her expression but at least she wasn’t all shy and scared about it now. Hope wondered what she expected from her to say, why was Scarlett all nervous to tell at the first place.

“I’m gonna go to bed… you should sleep soon too.” Hope said as she got up from Scarlett’s bed. “I love you.” Hope said as she gave her a kiss goodnight on the top of her head. Scarlett smiled at her as Hope left the room. Scarlett never said it back but it didn’t bother Hope. She knew the girl liked her and that was enough for her. She didn’t try to replace Abigail in Scarlett’s heart, she knew the girl loved Abigail and probably would feel cheated if she’d had those feelings for Hope. Maybe someday… but Hope loved Scarlett and she told her that every day. She felt like it was important for Scarlett to hear that and Hope wasn’t going to hold her feelings back from her girl. How is she going to tell her that when she’ll be hundreds of miles away in a boarding school? It’s not like they had cell phone privileges there. She could always use magic to get to her… god no she can’t be that codependent on her daughter. She is fifteen, she will be perfectly fine… besides Landon would be there for her and Hope will be just fine alone in New Orleans, just how she liked it… right? These thoughts ran through Hope’s mind as she lay in her bed trying to go to sleep. No… she didn’t want to be alone. She wanted to be with Landon and their daughter. She didn’t want to be lonely anymore. She broke down crying in her bed. She was struggling with her thoughts for hours when she finally cried herself to sleep.

Hope woke up drained the next morning. She managed to sleep some but surely didn’t feel like she did. She took a quick shower, it helped with her exhaustion. She had breakfast with Scarlett that morning then they were planning to practice some magic. They did just that all morning. Scarlett did fine but she wasn’t as lively as usual and Hope could barely pay attention to her. She couldn’t stop thinking about Landon and Scarlett leaving to Mystic Falls. Lizzie already left and surely Josie will leave too as soon as school starts again… especially after Hope tells her she couldn’t find anything regarding the merge… well she had that one thing, to ask her grandmother but she didn’t want to think about that just yet. She was truly afraid of being alone again. At least she had her hybrids. They would never leave her… Around noon Scarlett told Hope she was tired and hungry and had enough of the magic for that day. She made herself a sandwich and went upstairs to her room. Hope thought she was acting weird… at least not how she usually was. But who knows… she was a teenager after all she probably having one of those moody days.

Hope was sitting in the kitchen sipping on a bloodbag. She just couldn’t let go of these thoughts about Landon and Scarlett leaving. She needed to talk to Landon. She knew he didn’t want anything to do with her but they had to talk about it, for Scarlett’s sake. Hope decided to call him. She was nervous as she heard the phone ring but she was pretty sure Landon wouldn’t pick up for her. At least she wasn’t blocked and the phone ringed for a while. After a minute or so it went to voicemail. Hope left a message that she wanted to talk about Scarlett and her going to the Salvatore school. It was very professional, not the typical crying how much she missed him kinda message she usually left for him. Hope wasn’t sure he was going to listen to it so she sent a text as well. A couple of hours passed and she didn’t get any reply from Landon. Hope decided to go over to their apartment to talk to him. She changed to a top which might showed a little more cleavage than usual, she knew how much Landon appreciated her breasts… she curled loose waves in her hair and let it loose on her shoulders. She only touched up her face with minimal make up, she knew Landon liked her more natural look. She was really nervous to see him after a month, after the way the left things. He probably didn’t want to see her but they should be able to talk about Scarlett. At least Hope hoped he would talk to her. Hope let Scarlett know she was going out for a while and be back soon. She didn’t tell her where exactly she was going. Maybe after she came back home she’d talk to her.

Hope arrived to the apartment building and pushed on the buzzer. She was extremely nervous, her heart was pounding so loud in her chest she barely heard the door opening in the building. She walked upstairs and knocked on the apartment door. Didn’t pass much time when he opened the door. He looked shocked when he noticed Hope in the door. He obviously didn’t expect her despite Hope texted him that she would come over to talk. It was obvious now he didn’t read her texts.

“Hey” Hope greeted him standing outside the apartment. It was so nice to see him, she couldn’t hide her smile.

“What are you doing here?” Landon asked her confused that she was there.

“I called you… and texted you to talk about Scarlett…” Hope said still standing outside. Landon didn’t move from the door, he obviously wasn’t planning to invite her inside.

“Is she okay?” He asked worried.

“Yes sure… about the school. She mentioned going to the Salvatore school, I just wanted to talk it through with you.” Hope explained anxiously.

“Oh…” Landon wanted to say something else but a woman’s voice interrupted him from the apartment. She said something about some books but Hope couldn’t really focus on her words because she recognized the voice even though she only met the girl once. It was Claire, Landon’s ex girlfriend. Hope felt her face burn she got so angry. What the hell was she doing in there? Landon turned his back to Hope to answer the girl. Now Hope saw her. She was standing in the middle of the living room. God she was really pretty… so Landon’s type… The girl noticed hope and she said hello to her. Hope could barely form words, he was so angry and jealous, but somehow managed to say hi and even smile. Landon stepped inside and gestured Hope to go inside as well. She stepped in the apartment. It was obvious Landon didn’t want her there and right now Hope didn’t want to be there either. What the hell she was thinking just showing up like that… and what the hell was Claire doing in Landon’s apartment. They stood far from each other and they were both fully clothed, thankfully Hope didn’t interrupt some intimate moment… but they were still alone in there and it made Hope feel like an idiot to show up there and dress up like she did for Landon.

“Oh my god, you’re Hope right? You hooked up with my brother once.” Claire blurted out as she recognized Hope. Hope’s face got redder if that was even possible. She just nodded. “I didn’t know you two knew each other. Didn’t seem like it.” Claire added.

“No, we didn’t…” Landon answered thankfully. Hope was pretty much unable to speak. “We got to know each other since then.” He said… it was probably easier to explain than the whole truth how they knew each other.

“So what… like you two?” She asked implying if there was something between Hope and Landon.

“No, not anymore.” Landon stated. It was obvious but his answer was still hurting Hope. They were not together… not anymore.

“Oh God… first my brother then my boyfriend… please Hope tell me you didn’t hook up with any other men from my life.” Claire giggled.

“Ex boyfriend.” Landon corrected her with a smile.

Hope didn’t find this funny. In fact she was hurt and embarrassed. Just another hookup? She wanted to yell that wasn’t the case with Landon… and how dare she imply such things making her look like a whore. She wanted to tell her that but she couldn’t. The fact that Landon just stood there smiling made it extremely painful. She felt the tears burning behind her eyes. Obviously Landon and Hope weren’t on the best terms right now but she deserved at least his respect. She looked at him as a tear fell down her face. She saw Landon’s smile dropped immediately but in that moment she turned around and ran out of the apartment, downstairs to her car before she broke completely.

She was sobbing as she laid hear head on the steering wheel. She couldn’t care less about that stupid bitch’s comments but she didn’t expect this from Landon. Did he hate her that much? Did he hurt her deliberately? Why didn’t he say something? Was it really funny to him that Claire made her look like a whore? Was he really thinking about her as a casual hook up? Did he not love her anymore? Hope questioned their whole relationship as she was sobbing in her car.

Hope heard the passenger door opened then closed. She sensed him sitting beside her. She didn’t look up, she must have looked awful as she couldn’t stop crying. She didn’t care in the past when Landon saw her like that but she already felt so insecure about herself.

“I’m sorry about that… I know how sensitive you are.” Landon said in a calm voice.

Hope just cried even more. What was he trying to say… that she was too sensitive to take a joke? It really wasn’t about that stupid comment... it was about him. He really didn’t know that?

“Claire was only here because I gave her some notes and books. She’ll take a couple courses next year what I already finished. There’s nothing going on between us… not that it would matter anymore, but I still want you to know that.” Landon added. He knew how jealous Hope could get.

Hope took a deep breath and finally looked at Landon. She wiped her face with her hands and tried to fix her hair. She felt so conscious about her look.

“You… you weren’t… just a hook up.” She cried.

“I know that. You weren’t that to me either. I hope you know that.” He said it in his calm voice.

“Then why didn’t you say anything?” She said still crying.

“I don’t know Hope. I didn’t think to tell her about our relationship drama.” Landon said slightly annoyed.

“I was already shocked to find her in your apartment… I couldn’t find the words to say anything… I just expected you to have at least a slight respect for me to say that I wasn’t just a casual thing as she thought… she probably thought I came here to fuck and you just laughed about it.” Hope said bitterly. She stopped crying and anger took over her sobs.

“I’m sorry, I was pretty shocked to see you here too.” He replied.

“Well you should listen to your messages or at least read the texts I send. Or you should just block me if you delete everything I send you anyway. At least I’ll know for sure where we stand then.” She said annoyed raising her voice.

“Fine, I’m sorry if I hurt you. I get how her comments made you feel and I should’ve said something… I’m really sorry about that Hope.” He apologized calmly. Hope expected him to raise his voice too, but he didn’t. She just nodded as an acceptance for his apology. “Do you want to come upstairs to talk about the reason you are here?” He asked.

“I really don’t want to see her again.” Hope said. Now that she calmed down she played with the idea of having Claire as snack, so she really shouldn’t see her anymore.

“She already left.” Landon reassured her.

“Good… because I have a sudden urge to murder her.” She said with a half smile.

“That’s not cool Hope.” He smiled back at her, knowing well she wasn’t serious about it.

“Yeah… I know. Let’s go then.”

They went back to the apartment. Hope settled on the living room couch while Landon made them each a cup of tea. A hot cup of tea always made her nerves calm, she really appreciated he remembered. What would’ve worked better was a warm hug or a kiss but Landon wouldn’t even touch her so she was grateful for the tea. Now that she was calm, she remembered why she was there and what they had to talk about. She really just wanted to talk and ask why he came up with the idea of taking Scarlett to Mystic Falls… or was it Scarlett who asked him. The last thing she wanted was to argue with him, especially now that they could talk to each other civilized… but in the back of her mind she was really mad at him for taking her girl away. She couldn’t think of that now, she couldn’t lose her cool now.

“So, Scarlett told you?” Landon asked as he placed a cup in front of Hope on the coffee table, then sat on an armchair keeping his distance from Hope.

“She told me that you suggested she should go.” Hope said a little more demanding than she wanted to sound. She grabbed the tea quickly, sipping on the hot liquid.

“I thought it could be good for her… like it was for us. It’s the perfect place for someone like her… she seemed excited about it. But it’s up to her, I don’t want to make her do anything she doesn’t want to.” Landon added, probably sensing Hope’s uneasiness.

“It seemed like she wants to go and I’m not gonna stop her but I’m not so sure it’s the right time for her to be in a boarding school.” Hope said.

“I know, I thought about the many changes in her life recently and how this would be another on the pile but I really think it could be good for her, to be around kids like her… she could make lifelong friends and learn so much about the supernatural world. Besides I will be there for her, she won’t be alone.” Landon tried to reassure Hope that she will be ok.

“Scarlett is not like the other kids there… and she has friends here in New Orleans… I just don’t have a good feeling about this.” Or maybe it was because she was the one who didn’t want to be alone. She immediately felt guilty. She needed to put Scarlett’s happiness first and if she wanted to go with Landon, Hope wouldn’t stop them. “Maybe I just worry too much…but I trust you to take good care of her. And she’s not like us when we were that age. We learned to be alone due to our circumstances but she’s not like that… I don’t ever want her to be alone like that… and when I’m not there you have to tell her every day that you love her. Ok? You have to promise me that.” She told him firmly as a teardrop rolled down her face.

“Hope, don’t worry. I will take care of her, I’ll love her, I promise.” Landon assured her.

Hope just nodded as she was too emotional again. She just started to have a relationship with her daughter a few months ago, she had no idea it would be that hard to let her go… besides they could talk anytime or astral project even… and they’ll see each other on school breaks and holidays. But it still wasn’t enough for Hope, she’s gotten too used to seeing Scarlett every day at home. She would really miss her… and him.

“Were you always going to go back to Mystic Falls?” Hope asked him as she was sipping on her tea.

“That was the plan… but I was going to stay… with you. I just need the distance now Hope… it’s just not easy to be around you.” He truly sounded heartbroken.

“I’m sorry I screwed up everything… I just wish you would listen to me and see my side of the story as well.” Hope told her between her tears.

“I already told you that I would never understand your actions Hope. I can’t just forgive you… especially after remembering our past together. How could you leave me like that… and how could you steal fifteen years with my daughter from me.” Landon said bitterly.

Hope didn’t even try to explain. She knew he didn’t want to hear it. She really wished he could feel what she went through back then, but he’ll never understand. And it broke her heart.

“Were you going to leave if Scarlett was going to stay in New Orleans?” She asked, still chocking from her tears.

“I missed fifteen years… if she doesn’t want to attend the Salvatore school, I will stay and find another job around here. She’s going to grow up in no time, I don’t want to miss another minute of it.” He said firmly, clearly blaming Hope for the missed years.

“Landon, I feel the same way. I don’t know how I will go on with her being so far away from me.” She cried.

“Yeah, well the difference is that you chose to stay away from her in the past. I’m sure you’ll manage the same way you did before.” He said bitterly.

She didn’t even respond to that just cried harder. It hurt, but he was right, she did leave her. She’ll still miss her and Landon knew exactly how terrified Hope was of being alone, about people leaving her. It was her worst fear and it always happened to her. One moment the universe granted her some kind of happiness it was ripped away from her leaving her all by herself. She should get used to it now but it was painful every single time.

Landon stood up and left the living room. He left her there to cry…no comforting words or comforting touch this time. She missed him and his kindness so much. She hated how distanced Landon was with her. At least he showed emotions and he wasn’t as cold with her like the night she told him about Scarlett.

Soon Landon returned. He touched her shoulder gently and placed a fresh cup of hot tea in her hands. It was a small touch, barely lasted for a second but she welcomed it. Even if just slightly but for a moment she felt her caring and kind Landon. She smiled at him between her tears and thanked the tea.

“Hope, it’s not like you never gonna see her again. She will come home to you as much as she wants to and you can come visit her whenever you like. I’m not trying to take her away from you, I hope you know that.” He said clearly regretting his previous statement but he didn’t apologize for it.

“I know.” Hope said quietly. She drank some tea in silence, Landon sitting in his chair silent as well. After a few minutes when it got real uncomfortable, Hope excused herself and went to the bathroom. She looked awful after all that ridiculous crying. She didn’t care anymore that Landon saw her like that… he saw her cry a million times before. She washed her face with cold water to freshen up a little then exited the bathroom. She walked to Landon who was still sitting in the armchair. He looked so sad, he was clearly heartbroken.

“I’m gonna head home.” Hope broke his silence. He got up and walked her to the front door. “Sorry about all my emotional outbursts today… that’s not how I planned this day.” She apologized.

“Don’t worry about it Hope, it didn’t start too well with Claire and all. If I knew you were coming she wouldn’t have been here. I can imagine how you felt when you saw her, it would hurt me too to see you with someone else… even though there’s really nothing going on between Claire and me.” He added in his comforting kind way.

“Thanks Landon… but you know you really should read my texts.” Hope smiled at him as she opened the front door, ready to leave.

“I read them.” He said and Hope turned to him, didn’t really understand then why he didn’t know she was coming. “And I listen to your messages as well… late at night when I’m alone. That’s the only way I can listen to your voice… you have a huge impact on me. I can’t get caught up in my emotions and losing focus on whatever I am up to during my day because I’m reading or listening to how much you miss me. I can’t deal with that Hope… I won’t block you but I won’t respond to you… I’m sorry but I need distance from you.” He said trying to hold back his tears.

Hope knew now for sure that he still loved her. He loved her as much as she loved him. Hope was relieved but also extremely sad. Landon was trying to move on… he was trying to move on without her in his life, without her in his future. Hope just nodded that she understood and left the apartment. She really didn’t want to cry anymore but that all she felt was able to do. She held back though and drove herself home.

When she arrived home, she wanted to check on Scarlett. She wasn’t her usual self that day so Hope wanted to see if she was doing okay. When she was walking upstairs toward her room, she heard voices… and not just hers. She heard a male voice and some giggling. She blasted in her door and walked in without knocking. She found Scarlett and a boy about her age making out on her bed in a very explicit position, thankfully both were clothed. Hope never met the boy but from his darker features he must be Oliver, at least from what she heard from Scarlett. Though she didn’t know they were this close…

“What the hell?” Scarlett yelled at her as she pushed the boy off him.

“I should be the one asking that. Who the hell is he?” Hope asked her irritated.

“This is Oliver… and this is Hope, my ummm… my guardian.” Scarlett tried to introduce Hope.

“Nice to meet you.” The boy said all embarrassed as he got off the bed.

“Get out of my house.” Hope told the boy, still very irritated. The boy grabbed his stuff and ran as fast as he could, he didn’t even say anything else to Scarlett or Hope... 

“Did you seriously have to throw him out like that?” Scarlett yelled.

“Yes, I did! What the hell was he doing on top of you and more importantly what were you thinking bringing here a human?? This house is full of magical and dark objects and ancient artifacts. What if he sees something and starts asking questions?? You can’t just invite here anyone.” Hope yelled back at her frustrated.

“So what I can’t even have my friends over?? Besides, he’s not just anyone… and don’t worry, he wasn’t interested in your magical objects.“ Scarlett replied raising her voice.

“In this house? No you can’t have anyone over, especially if you are not checking it with me first.” Hope argued with her.

“Fine, it’s good then I don’t have to tolerate you and your stupid house anymore. I can’t wait to live in Virginia.” She yelled.

“I’m sure you’ll find the boarding school’s rules much more endurable than mine…” Hope said sarcastically.

“Just get out of my room.” Scarlett screamed at her.

Hope left slamming the bedroom door. She was frustrated all day… she should’ve handled that better with Scarlett but she was just so mad at her for inviting a boy over without her knowledge. She thought they had a relationship when Scarlett could tell her these things. She may even aloud the boy to come over when Hope was home, but sneaking around like that made her so angry. And there was another thing, they should really be more careful about humans, Scarlett had to understand that. Hope painted until late that evening. After she took a shower she laid in her bed but couldn’t fall asleep. So many things happened that day she didn’t even want to think about that. Especially not Landon. Hope couldn’t possibly do anything about him. She knew she had to let him go, she had to stop thinking about him… he’ll leave soon with Scarlett. Hope looked at her phone. It was midnight. She didn’t even say goodnight to Scarlett. She felt so guilty, she’ll leave in a month and Hope didn’t even kissed her goodnight because of that stupid argument. She got out of her bed and headed to Scarlett’s room. She knocked on the door but there was no respond. Hope opened the door and found Scarlett sleeping in the dark. She laid next to her and kissed her head.

“I’m sorry Scarlett. I love you I hope you know that.” She whispered quietly as she laid next to a sleeping Scarlett.

“I know.” Scarlett whispered and turned to Hope half asleep. She hugged her and returned to her dreams holding on to Hope. Hope reciprocated the hug and she went to sleep cuddling her daughter.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, just a conversation between mother and daughter.  
> More drama and action will come in the next chapters.

Hope surprisingly had a good night sleep the day after her encounter with Landon. She woke up relaxed in Scarlett’s bed. Scarlett was already awake, she was getting out of her bed when Hope woke.

“Did you sleep here to make sure I don’t have Oliver in my bed?” Scarlett asked Hope when she noticed she opened her eyes.

“One cannot be too careful.” Hope said laughing. “Besides you were the one not letting go of me last night.” She got up and attacking Scarlett with a tight hug and kisses on her face.

“I don’t remember that.” She giggled as she pushed Hope away from her gently.

“But we really should talk about Oliver…” Hope said all serious as she caressed her face slightly.

“Can we have breakfast first?” Scarlett asked.

“Sure.” Hope replied and left her room to let her get ready.

Hope got ready for the day as well and started on some breakfast. Scarlett made her way to the kitchen and helped Hope finish up cooking. They ate in a rather good mood. After breakfast they headed to the living room to talk. The both sat on the couch facing each other. Scarlett looked anxious. She probably didn’t want the previous day to be repeated. Hope didn’t want that either and she was more collected than the day before.

“You don’t need to be nervous about this… I just want to talk. And I’m really sorry about yesterday, we can talk about you having friends over… it’s just a new territory for me too, to have people around here. Just please let me know ahead so I could be here…and I don’t mind you having a boyfriend but I’d like to know about it. I just thought we could talk about these things… I really don’t want you to be uncomfortable around me about the subject. Ok?” Hope said in a reassuring calm voice, hoped that Scarlett will open up to her. It was quiet for a while before Scarlett started to speak.

“I never really wanted him to be more than a friend.” She said sadly and shrugged.

“Did he pressure you to do something you didn’t want?” Hope asked concerned, already planning to murder the kid.

“No, god no! I like him, we made out I wanted it as much as he did. Nothing else happened.” She quickly reassured Hope before she jumped to false conclusions. “And I’m sorry too... for inviting him over without asking you.” She apologized.

“So what happened?” Hope asked paying careful attention to her.

“I don’t even know... because he’s human, I’m not, I didn’t want to complicate things then he called yesterday and we just talked over the phone… I told him that I might leave to a different school and then he just blurted out that he had feelings for me and how he’d miss me if I’d leave… I kinda told him that the feelings were mutual and I asked him if he wanted to come over o talk… It was all so spontaneous. I didn’t plan this to happen. Before yesterday I never even kissed him or anyone. Things just got heated… I’m still not sure what happened… It’s not like I kept our relationship a secret from you, we were really just friends… and I’m not sure what we are now.” Scarlett mumbled all blushed and anxious.

“Oh… so it just happened yesterday.” Hope said in a shocked voice. In the position she found them the day before they seemed to be really comfortable with each other. Hope really thought they were together for a while. “You just seemed really cozy with each other.” Hope giggled and Scarlett’s face turned even redder. “Do we need to talk about birth control and stuff?” Hope asked and Scarlett probably couldn’t be more embarrassed than she was sitting right in front of Hope that moment.

“No, I really don’t plan on having sex… I’ll let you know ok? But I don’t think I am ready for that.” She answered.

“Thank god!” Hope sighed loudly “I’m curious, why do you think you decided to go for him yesterday? You kept your space and friend zoned him for a while now… what changed?”Hope asked curiously.

“I dunno…” she shrugged. “I think I’ll miss him.” Scarlett said quietly.

“Yeah? And you felt like you had to do something about it before you leave. Huh?” Hope asked her as she gently stroked her arm.

“I guess… I really like him but I’m afraid I made a mistake. What if he finds out what am I? What if he hates me for it?” She wondered concerned.

“You really shouldn’t tell him… he’s just a kid, who knows what he would do with the information… but if he’ll find out somehow and he hates you for it than he is an idiot who doesn’t deserve you.” Hope tried to comfort the girl.

“Anyway I’m leaving to Virginia in a month so it doesn’t matter… I could do the long distance thing but it never works.” Scarlett said bitterly as she shrugged.

“Hey, it could work if you both willing to try it. Don’t give up, okay? Why don’t you invite him over for dinner someday this week? I’d like to get to know him if he’s that important to you… and I might owe him an apology. How’s that sound?” Hope wasn’t sure what to do about her, a long distance relationship probably wouldn’t work… but if Scarlett really liked this boy she should give it a shot. Hope also wanted some alone time with Oliver to compel him, he wanted to make sure he had good intentions with Scarlett. She of course stayed quiet about it, Scarlett might not appreciate her plan.

“Yeah okay…” She said plainly. They sat in silence for a while, then Hope started to stir to stand up to leave, she thought they were done and Scarlett didn’t seemed like she wanted to talk that much anyway. When she was ready to leave the room, Scarlett broke their silence. “It might not be just him… who I’ll miss… was it hard for you in the school without your family? Did you miss your friends?” She asked. Hope turned to her and looked into her eyes. She tried to collect her thoughts before answering. She was hesitant to leave New Orleans, Hope could see that now. Hope didn’t notice this worry before… could it be all because of Oliver? Maybe not… now that she thought about it Scarlett was distressed the day before as well, when they were training… she should’ve noticed.

“I was seven Scarlett… of course I missed my family. Mostly my parents… but I understood it was the safest place I could be and I learned to like it there. After my family passed away the people in the school became my family. They were my only friends growing up… maybe I played with some kids from the crescent pack when I was home for school breaks but I never really had real friend outside of the Salvatore school… so I think my situation was very different from yours… but hey, it’s okay to have concerns about the school… and you know it’s your decision, you don’t have to decide yet if you wanted to go or stay.” Hope tried her best to comfort her. She didn’t want to influence her decision in either way, though Hope would be so much more relaxed and happier if she’d stay.

“I just… I don’t think I can decide. I know Landon wants to go back there to teach and I don’t want to be the reason he stays… but I’ll miss the city and my school here, and my friends and Oliver… and… “ Scarlett was fidgeting with her fingers and took her eyes off Hope and stared at her lap. “Do you want me to go? Because it’s ok if you don’t want me here anymore, that would make the decision easier.” Scarlett wouldn’t look at Hope as she said that.

Hope just froze for a moment but she hugged the girl a second later. Hope knew it would influence her decision but didn’t care, Scarlett needed to know how she felt from the moment she brought up her possible departure.

“God, I don’t want you to go! I love you so much Scarlett, I don’t know what I would do without you here. I was so anxious about you leaving that I went to see Landon yesterday and I basically cried for the whole time I was there… it was really embarrassing… but honestly I’m terrified of being alone right now, I really don’t want to return to the miserable life I lived without you… and Landon…” Hope sighed of the thought of Landon. She knew that would never happen and he was trying to move on. She let the girl out of her hug and caressed her face gently. Scarlett just smiled at her.

“Thanks for making the decision so much easier.” Scarlett smiled. “By the way I would’ve missed you the most.” Hope kissed her forehead. It really made her feel so much better.

“Why would you even think that I wouldn’t want you here? Did I do anything that gave you a reason?” She asked concerned. She wanted Scarlett to feel like it was her home too.

“No… I don’t know. You said it was a good idea for me to go so I assumed.” Scarlett said slightly embarrassed.

“Well you said you’d like to go… I’m also not the best at communicating when I’m startled with shocking news like you or Landon leaving… sorry about that.” Hope said smiling at her.

“Maybe I’m not the best at that either… I should’ve told you I rather stay with you… but Landon was so excited about this and he said the Salvatore School was the best place he’d ever been… and he really wants to go back there, I just didn’t want to hurt him. He said he’d stay for me if I want to stay in New Orleans… I just didn’t want to ruin his plans. He didn’t even know about me a month ago.”

“A month ago he was planning to stay here for me… plans change all the time. You are not ruining anything. Ok? He has all the time in the future to go back there. He’ll survive… even if I’ll be around…” She said that last part a little too sharp.

“Why you say that?” Scarlett asked curiously.

Hope sighed loudly, she didn’t really want Scarlett involved in her dilemma with Landon… but she was right in the middle of it so it was almost impossible.

“He’s running from me… he wants to move on and it’s easier when the person who hurt you is not around.” Hope shrugged with a sad smile.

“Oh… but if he stays maybe you two can patch things up.” Scarlett said with a comforting smile.

“I wish… but it’s not that easy.” Hope whispered.

“Well...” Scarlett had a wide grin on her face. “Maybe I can talk you up or something… it could help.”

“Oh god please don’t parent trap us… besides I don’t want to give him a hard time if he wants to move on.”

“You shouldn’t just give up. You love him and he loves you too. Why can’t he just get over this? If I was able to forgive you so should he.” Scarlett said all fired up.

“I’m not giving up, I hope he’ll forgive me one day even if he says he never will… but I don’t want to push him right now. I saw him yesterday, he seemed heartbroken when he looked at me. I think we need to give him a break.”

“Fine… I just wish he would see your side as well.” Scarlett said in a melancholic tone.

“He said he’ll never understand my actions… why, how do you see my side of the story?” Hope asked her curiously. The only time Hope told her about that time of her life was on that full moon months ago in front on Scarlett’s and Abigail’s cabin and she didn’t tell her everything. She knew Scarlett forgave her, but she still left her and she still kept her from Landon. It surely wasn’t easy for her daughter… Hope also assumed Scarlett was this attached to her because of Abigail’s death. She obviously needed a motherly figure in her life and she was there for her.

“I dunno…” she said shyly. “I mean you said some stuff and Lizzie… or my mom. So I get how difficult it must have been for you.” She said vaguely. It seemed like she felt a bit uncomfortable at the subject but so did Hope. Hope was done with the secrets and lies so she just wanted to make sure the girl has every answer she needed.

“You know you can always ask me about anything if you have doubts or questions. It may not be the easiest subject to talk about, but I want us to be open with each other.” Hope had a reassuring smile.

“After my birthday… after you know I spoke to you that way.” Scarlett blushed and tried not to look directly in Hope’s eyes. Hope just squeezed her hand gently to let her know it was all forgiven. “My mom was mad at me… and umm… she told me how she met you then when you find out about the pregnancy and how unwell you were… like mentally. She said there was no way you could’ve taken care of a baby… so I get that why you gave me up then and I’m sorry if you were sick because of me… but I know you got better, I just don’t know why you never cared about me after that.” She asked quietly still not looking up to Hope. “I’m not mad or anything just curious I guess.” She quickly stated looking up into her eyes as Hope was thinking how she could answer in a way that would hurt Scarlett the least.

“First of all I wasn’t sick because of you. All the circumstances… it was a lot to handle.” Hope told her. The last thing she wanted for Scarlett to feel any guilt about this whole thing. “ You know after my parents and my family passed away I swore I’ll never get close to anyone else just to lose them. Then Landon happened and I fell hard. He opened me up, I had friends and people in my life again I cared about. Then all that was taken away by Malivore. So I decided to never open up to anyone, to never get close to anyone again. Then you came along and… I had so many fears but the worst one was that you’ll end up like me… alone, loosing anyone you love… or that you’ll end up like all Mikaelsons… dead and I’ll lose you for good. Either way I didn’t want you to have any connection to the Mikaelson name, I just felt like it was a curse… so I never went to see you or never wanted to get to know you but it doesn’t mean I never cared. I thought about you constantly… and every time I met Abigail at the meetings she would show pictures of you, she would always talk about you even if I kinda pretended I didn’t care, I heard everything.” Hope smiled a little embarrassed admitting that to Scarlett. “It was difficult to accept people in my heart again but it was you and Landon of course who helped break down my walls after fifteen years. I hope that makes at least a little sense to you.” Hope tried to explain her thoughts which were quite difficult for her.

“Thank you for telling me this.” Scarlett said shyly with a warm smile on her face then she leaned in and hugged Hope. Hope embraced her and stroked her hair gently as Scarlett laid on her shoulder.

“Anything else you need to know?” Hope asked her still hugging the girl.

“No.” She answered quietly, not letting Hope go.

“I love you so much.” Hope squeezed her more tightly.

Scarlett took a deep breath and turned her head toward Hope’s neck and whispered faintly. “I love you too.”

Hope just kept her daughter in her embrace as she shed a drop of tear.


	22. Chapter 22

A week later Hope and Scarlett’s relationship was stronger than ever. They could talk to each other about anything there was no off topic or limit on their conversation… well maybe Hope and Landon intimate moments, but no child wants to know about their parents alone time and Hope was private about that as well. Scarlett started dating Oliver and as they agreed with Hope she invited him for dinner one Saturday evening. He was a well mannered smart kid, Hope liked his company. She thought about compelling him without Scarlett’s knowledge but they had such a good relationship that she found it better to not hide anything from her so she asked Scarlett if she had any objection on the matter. She wasn’t thrilled but Hope told her that she couldn’t stop worrying about her so she let her compel him. It turned out as Scarlett expected and Hope hoped. The kid was no threat, he knew nothing of the Supernatural he was just really into Scarlett. Scarlett met with his new boyfriend almost every day of the week. She didn’t make it to meet with Landon but Hope knew it was because she was nervous about telling him her decision about staying in New Orleans. They talked almost every day but Scarlett was avoiding the subject. Hope told her after a week that she needed to face him about it. Hope wanted to tell him sparing Scarlett from seeing Landon disappointed but Landon was still avoiding Hope. Finally after a week and a buttload of encouragement from Hope, Scarlett went to meet with her dad.

Hope was home, sitting in the library working on the merge. She was rechecking everything she already knew. That there was no way for her to find a solution on breaking this curse. She was feeling hopeless about the situation when Scarlett came knocking on the library door then opened it.

“Hey.” She said as she stepped inside. “Can I come in or you’re busy?”

“Hey, come on in. How did it go with Landon?” Hope asked her in a tired voice after hours of reading but with a welcoming smile.

“Umm…” Scarlett hesitated and hopped on an armchair.

“Not good. Huh?”

“He wasn’t happy about it. He was nice an all but not happy… and umm… I think I messed up I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean?” Hope asked curiously. She didn’t think Landon would be angry.

“He obviously asked me why I didn’t want to go to Mystic Falls and I was kinda hesitant to answer… I might’ve told him beside other things that I didn’t want to leave you because you’d be lonely… he asked me if you were the one telling me that… I just don’t think he took it the right way. Making him mad at you was the last thing I wanted but I think he was. I’m so sorry. I will try to fix it somehow.”

“Ohh” Hope didn’t want to have any bad blood between them either besides the obvious one. Landon probably thought she influenced Scarlett’s decision about saying she’d be lonely without her… which she obviously did but she needed to tell Scarlett that at that moment. Landon probably wouldn’t understand that either… it’s not like he was willing to have a conversation with Hope.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Scarlett said in a sad tone, she was obviously feeling bad about it.

“Well it was the truth and I did tell you I’d be lonely… you should tell your father whatever you want. Don’t beat yourself up because of it. He might be mad that I influenced you some way, but he couldn’t expect you to make a decision like this all by yourself. I mean I know you are capable, but you are fifteen, you will need a little guidance sometimes.”

“Yeah I think you are right, I hope he’ll understand.” Scarlett smiled. “Can I go over to Oliver’s?” She asked her.

“Sure. Come home for dinner?”

“Yeah ok.” Scarlet said as she got up from the chair and headed to the library door.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t” Hope smirked at her.

“I don’t know what you mean but I’m still not having sex if that’s what you worried about.” She giggled.

“Okay great.” Hope laughed.

After Scarlett left Hope thought about continuing the research but she was tired of the merge and spells, so she decided to paint some. It was the best distraction to not think about anything. Especially about Landon. It was sweet from Scarlett to worry that much but Hope was hoping Landon would get over this. Hope haven’t called or texted Landon since they talked. It was hard to hold herself back, especially in the middle of the nights when she missed him the most. But she was stronger than that, she wanted to give Landon the space he needed, even if it killed her. God the nights were hard. Hope hadn’t had sex in more than a month. It was painful how much she needed his touch. She was a wolf and she needed that kind of attention more often than not. That’s why she went and picked up strangers in the past… but now she couldn’t. After everything with Landon recently, the bare thought of someone else touching her made her sick. She tried to relieve her needs by herself and went for wolf runs more than she used to but the ache for Landon never passed.

Hope made her way to her art room and started painting shutting her thoughts off. She painted for hours when she heard a knock on the door. Hope was lost in her painting, didn’t pay much attention on the knock, just called out to ‘come in’. She was pretty sure it was Scarlett. She recently let Scarlett in to see her paintings. She was still very private and selfconscious about her work, but she decided to let her daughter in. To her surprise Landon entered the room.

He walked closer to Hope where she sat on her stool in front of a canvas but kept some distance. He didn’t even look around, just stared at Hope in silence. Hope suddenly turned pale in sight of Landon who stood in the most private part of her house. Landon saw a couple of paintings of hers before but never stepped inside her art room. There was a bunch of paintings on the floor, on the wall, on easels. There was many finished but many unfinished paintings in the room and there was a lot of paintings of Landon as well. Hope was startled, she was planning on showing Landon her paintings when they were together but him being there somehow didn’t feel right for Hope.

“I thought you were Scarlett.” Hope said indicating she didn’t mean to invite Landon in.

“I just need to talk to you.” He said plainly. Hope couldn’t read any expression on him.

“You want to talk? To me?” Hope said surprised as she got up from the stool and stepped closer to Landon but still kept the distance, they wouldn’t have been able to touch.

“Yeah, about Scarlett… she came to see me earlier today. She decided to stay in New Orleans.” He said as he looked directly in Hope’s eyes, but she still couldn’t pick up on his mood.

“Yes, I know.” Hope replied to him, but she noticed the unpleasant coldness in his eyes. She shuddered slightly then folded her arms. She hadn’t seen this expression on him since the night she told him about Scarlett.

“I bet you do.” He said coldly. “You manipulated her to stay here with you.”

“I did not manipulate her!” Hope stated firmly. She didn’t… at least she didn’t mean to. Did she really manipulate Scarlett? As she questioned herself she looked away from Landon’s eyes. As she looked at her side she stared at a painting of Landon on the floor. Hope captured his warm smile and his loving eyes on the painting. He looked nothing like that as he stood there in front of her.

“You told her you don’t know what to do without her and you are afraid to be alone…” He said raising his voice. “this is emotional manipulation Hope. She obviously won’t ever leave you if you break down to her and say things like that. This is not right, you cannot do this.”

Was he right? Scarlett needed to hear how Hope was feeling. She was so sure she did the right thing… but now she wasn’t so sure. She was so selfconscious in front of Landon. He was standing in her most sacred place surrounded by pictures of all Hope’s emotions as he was questioning her motivations towards her daughter… and was he judging her because of her breakdowns? She should really stop her emotions in front of Landon and not cry anymore. It clearly bothered him.

“It wasn’t like that Landon. I know it affected how she decided at the end, but I didn’t try to manipulate her. And I didn’t break down or bagged her to stay or I don’t know what you are thinking… We just had a conversation and we both thought staying here would be the best for her right now.” Hope tried to explain controlling her emotions. “Did you even ask Scarlett how she felt about leaving or you just assumed she’d be happy to do whatever you do. And if you think I emotionally manipulated her then what you did was no different. You telling her you wanted to go back to teach but if she really wanted to stay you would make a sacrifice and would stay for her?” Hope was getting angry at him now. “I know you hate me right now but you don’t have the right to come here and accuse me of manipulation or judge me if I have a breakdown. I know I’m too sensitive, I’ll try my best not to show that around you anymore… and now please leave this room.” Hope was furious with him now. She didn’t want to get in a fight with him but he was clearly asking for it. He cannot just come here and walk over Hope’s feelings like that. He was way out of the line so much that Hope actually questioned her own motivations towards Scarlett. He did that to her. She would believe anything he said. But Hope knew it wasn’t true, she knew she did her best.

Landon then looked around. He probably just really noticed everything around him. All the paintings, all the colors. Everything in there captured Hope’s feelings and emotions at some point in her life. Some paintings were dark and disturbing some beautifully colorful. Landon sighed loudly and walked towards the door to leave the room without a word. He looked hesitant and he stopped outside the art room. Hope didn’t know what else he wanted. She surely didn’t have anything to say to him anymore. She was so mad at him that probably the first time in a long time she didn’t want to do anything with him. Landon didn’t seem to move from his place so Hope stepped outside the room as well and closed the door behind her. She looked at him questioning.

“I don’t judge you for being emotional or sensitive.” He said softly looking at Hope.

“Well you sure make me feel shit about myself… and embarrassed that I ever showed you that side of me.”

“Hope, please don’t. I never meant for you to feel that way. I loved you the way you were.” Landon said probably meant his words to comfort Hope, but she looked at him disappointed.

“I still love you Landon… despite you’re being an asshole to me.” She shrugged with a sad expression.

“Hope…” He said her name with so much emotion she felt weak in her knees. “I’m sorry I really should’ve thought it through before I came here. I was so angry with you… and I know how your family was. Your father, a master manipulator… and you are similar to him in some ways, I just thought you would…”

“I would never do that, especially not with Scarlett.” Hope interrupted him before he could finish his thoughts. “First, I told you those books about my family are biased, they only show one side of the story... you cannot possibly believe everything in them. Second, I thought you knew me Lan. And I am trying my best with Scarlett, I want what’s best for her. If it was the Salvatore school I wouldn’t selfishly hold her back because of my feelings. And who knows maybe she wants to go next year. But right now she needs to stay here, with me. She needs me more than I need her, I just wish you could see that too.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I can see clearly when it comes to you. You took her from me once I don’t know… I thought you’d try again.” Landon said and Hope just rolled her eyes on how stupid that sounded. “I knew you fifteen years ago, I loved you fifteen years ago, but so much time has passed, we both changed Hope, you cannot expect me to know your intentions when you lied to me for two months straight.”

“We grew up, but my feelings haven’t changed Landon.” She looked at him lovingly even though she was still pretty angry with him.

“God Hope! You know I love you too, but I can’t be in love with you, not when I’m trying so hard to move on. I don’t think I could ever be with you the way we were. I would always blame you for Scarlett. We could never be happy.” Landon said raising his voice. Hope knew he was trying to move on, but hearing it out loud was just so painful and that he would never be happy with her hurt her too. “I need you to let me go, I want you to move on as well. Please let me move on Hope, I am begging you!” He said pleading.

“I’m so sorry Landon. I wish you could see from my side, I wish you could understand me.” Hope said as she shed a tear. She was expecting Landon to get mad at her again since he said so many times, he’ll never understand her, but he wasn’t. “I will try to let you go, I promise. I don’t want you to be unhappy Landon.”

“Thank you Hope.” He said quietly. “I’m sorry too.” He said and Hope could picture his heart breaking with hers.

“So this is it?” She asked as her voice chocked.

“Yeah.” He answered vaguely tearing up as well.

“Landon…” Hope was afraid to have one last request from him but if this was really their final break up she needed a proper farewell. “please kiss me… one last time.” She said it between her tears.

Landon stepped up to her as she stood in front of the closed door. He stood in front of her as he stared into her teary eyes with his own. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and stroked her face gently with his knuckle then cupped her face lightly. At the feeling Hope closed her eyes enjoying every soft touch of his as it sent chills down her spine. Landon got closer to her, she could feel his warm breath on her face. He captured her lower lip with his own sucking on it gently as he still held her face in his hand. She kissed him back immediately and held on to his neck for support. Landon grabbed her waist with his free hand and pulled Hope closer to him. Hope stuck one of her hand in his curly hair massaging his scalp with the tip of her fingers gently as she deepened her kiss entering Landon’s mouth with her tongue. He wrapped both arms around Hope and pulled her as close as he could to his body. They kissed fiercely and hungry until they needed to come up for some air. Hope wished it would never end and it seemed like he wasn’t going to let Hope go just yet. He started kissing and nibbling on her neck as he found the spot he knew so well and started sucking on it. A loud moan escaped Hope’s mouth from the sensation Landon was causing. Landon pushed Hope to the closed door behind her and kissed her fiercely once more as he grinded his lower part to hers. Hope had to break the kiss for another moan as she felt his growing erection pressed to her core. She wanted him, she needed him, all of him.

“Landon… my room, please…” she moaned as their movements became more urgent through their clothes. She was so aroused she just wanted to fuck him right there in the hallway pressed against the door, but she knew Scarlett could come home anytime and she didn’t want to traumatize the girl.

“Yeah.” he moaned and stepped back, away from Hope leaving way too much room between them which made hope whine out loud.

They rushed upstairs to Hope’s room. She locked the door behind them and spelled the room with the soundproofing spell for their privacy. She walked to Landon who was standing in the middle of the room. Hope got up to her tiptoes to kiss him.

“Hope, before we do this.” Landon said against her lips as he took both her hands in his. “This is a goodbye. One last time.” He said looking into her blue eyes with his beautiful green ones.

Hope nodded with sadness in her eyes. She knew that. Landon was clear about never getting back together with her. But it still hurt. He kissed her softly first then with more passion and urgency. She followed along his lead. They stepped beside the bed and Landon laid her down gently on her back. They made out on the bed for a while then slowly discarded their clothes one by one. Landon took his time with everything. It was painfully slow for Hope but it was clear Landon wanted to make the most of their last time together. Landon kissed her whole body from top to the bottom. It took forever before he would kiss where Hope wanted him the most. Though he wouldn’t give Hope what she longed for just yet. Hope never whined so much for her release but he just told her to be patient. Time slowed down for Hope. Even though her body wanted the urgency in the back of her mind she wanted it to last forever with him. Just loving each other with passion forever. By the time Landon was finally ready for them to be connected she was a whining whimpering mess. Landon still told her to hold on for as long as she could. And she did, she kept herself from falling over the edge for what it felt like a painfully long time. It was Landon who first said that he couldn’t hold it anymore so Hope immediately let it go as well. And boy it was worth to stretch out for that long. Hope never had such powerful orgasm before. Her highs were so much longer than usual and she felt it in every inch in her body. She came screaming grasping into Landon’s hair and back as she locked him between her thighs. She had powerful orgasms before especially with Landon but nothing like a full bodied orgasm like this one. She swore it felt magical but she didn’t use any spells on them. It was probably a similar experience for Landon as well, his finish seemed more powerful than usual too.

Sometime later he was still trying to catch his breath against Hope’s neck as he held onto her. When both of their breathing turned back to their normal rhythm Landon kissed Hope’s forehead and moved off from her and from the bed as well. Hope watched as he gathered his clothes from the floor where they threw them and got dressed quickly. Then he headed to the bedroom door and unlocked it. He looked at Hope as she laid on the bad naked for a while before he opened the door and left without a word.


	23. Chapter 23

Hope didn’t leave her bed until the next morning. Tho she didn’t sleep much that night. She constantly replayed everything that happened with Landon that day in her mind. She thought about their fight, how Landon was a total jerk to her then their conversation about Landon moving on. Hope knew she had to let him move on, he said he would never be happy with Hope. She didn’t want that to him, he deserved to be happy so Hope let him go but not before they spent an amazing time together. Hope mostly thought about that… about every touch, every sound and every sensation he made her feel. God, it was the best sex she ever had. He didn’t say anything to her afterwards. She wasn’t mad at him for that. It hurt but she wasn’t mad. They both knew that was it, that was their end, their farewell to each other, saying anything would’ve been that much harder.

In the morning Hope still laid in her bed as those images ran through her mind. She was covered in dried sweat and other things… she didn’t mind having his scent on her. In fact she enjoyed breathing him in with every breath she took. But it was a new day, she needed to get up and she had to try to move on. It was painfully difficult to get out of that bed but she finally managed it. She took a shower, got dressed and made her way downstairs to the kitchen.

“Hey, I wasn’t even sure you were home.” Scarlett greeted her while she ate some cereal at the breakfast table in the kitchen.

“Morning! Sorry just slept in.” She said vaguely as she walked to the fridge to grab a bloodbag than she sat down by Scarlett to the table.

“I thought you wanted to have dinner together last night... but then I saw Landon leaving your room.” Scarlett looked at Hope more concerned, but Hope suddenly blushed and hoped she didn’t hear anything… she hoped the spell worked because she didn’t hold herself back. It would be really embarrassing. “Was he really mad at you? About you know… what I told him?” Scarlett asked worried. Hope relaxed a little, she thought they were ‘just’ fighting.

“Oh… yeah he was pretty mad but we talked about it I think he understood… at least I hope so.” Hope said with a reassuring smile.

“Good. I’m really sorry again, I didn’t want to cause any more trouble between the two of you.” Scarlett said apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it, you didn’t cause any trouble.” She smiled then sipped on the bloodbag.

“So did you kiss and make up? He must have been in there with you for a while.” Scarlett asked with a smirk and Hope almost chocked o the blood she was drinking. “Oh god! You did… I didn’t think because he left… but you actually did. I’m so happy for you!” She said with an honest smile.

“No, Scarlett we didn’t. We didn’t make up.” Hope said with a sad smile. “He needs to move on and I do too. I can’t keep pining over him when he clearly doesn’t want to be with me.”

“You told me you won’t give up on him. Now you just giving up? You can’t do that!” Scarlett said in an upset voice.

“I’m sorry but this is the best for everyone.”

“I don’t know who that everyone is. But it’s not Landon, certainly not you and definitely not me.” Scarlett sounded hurt and it warmed Hope’s heart how much she wanted her birthparents together.

“We’ll be fine Scarlett. Just let it go please, it will be easier if you just let it go.” Hope said and almost felt her heart break all over again. Scarlett didn’t say anything just continued eating in silence.

They practiced her magic later that morning but both were distressed especially Hope. As much as she told Scarlett to let it go she wasn’t able to. All she could think about was Landon. After they were done, Scarlett went upstairs to her room. She said she wasn’t in the mood to do anything that day. Hope didn’t mind, she wasn’t really in the mood for anything either. Hope grabbed her phone, went upstairs to her room to Facetime with Lizzie to tell her everything that happened.

“Hope! You finally called. I thought you forgot about me.” Lizzie pouted on the screen.

“We talked three days ago Liz and you are the one who had to move across the country.”

“Three days too long… I didn’t move by the way, I live here Hope and I kinda need my man more than I need you, I’m sorry.” She giggled.

“I still miss you. How’s MG? How are you holding up on animal blood?” Hope asked with a smirk.

“ You now… He’s doing awesome and I’d do everything for him but I miss our nights out in those vampire clubs.” She smiled.

“Yeah, I’d really need a girls night out right now.” She said with a sad expression.

“Is it Landon again? Is he being an asshole to you again? Is he still seeing that annoying ex of his? I will kill him Hope as soon I see him.” Lizzie asked all protective and upset.

“Why? He was seeing Claire? He said he was giving her some notes… You know what, I don’t care. We are finished for good. I will let him move on and I’ll do the same. We talked about it yesterday…” Hope added annoyed and jealous again… why did Lizzie have to bring up that bitch?

“What happened Hope?” She asked seriously now.

“He came over accusing me of manipulating Scarlett to stay with me. Then we had an argument about it…” Hope began to explain.

“What a jerk! Seriously! Does he even know you??”

“That’s what I thought too… but apparently I’m just a lying and manipulating Mikaelson to him.” Hope was getting angry again at him, remembering their aggravating conversation.

“Oh my god, I will kill him for sure at least twice now. He’ll deserve it.”

“We talked about it after he calmed down… he admitted he was wrong… kinda… so we were able to talk as two civilized people after that.” Hope sighed loudly.“He said he will never be happy with me and asked me to let him go… so I did. We are moving on Liz… we are never going to happen.” Hope told her as she started to cry.

“Oh god Hope! You seriously giving up?” She asked stunned.

“Why does everyone asks that? I want him to be happy and if he is not happy with me we can’t be together.” She said crying. “It hurts like hell but I did it before… I can let him go again.”

“I don’t agree with you! You two are made for each other, there’s no way you are giving up! Give him some time that’s fine… but you two will end up together. Don’t make me fly to New Orleans to smack you out of your delusions. You are such a martyr Hope! You’d sacrifice your own happiness because he is being a whiny little bitch unable to see the truth about you? He cannot be happy without you Hope. He tried it for the last 15 years, guess what it didn’t work!” Lizzie yelled passionately.

“Lizzie, please don’t make it harder than it already is.”

“You can make sure I’ll make it harder for the both of you until you two finally end up in a bed together.”

“That won’t work.” Hope looked at her doubtful and shook her head.

“Of course it will! He’ll know he can’t live without you as soon as he sees you naked. Believe me, men are simple.” Lizzie giggled.

“We had sex yesterday. After our conversation… a last one as a good bye. He left afterward without a word. It was our final time together… it surely felt like it will never happen again.” Hope explained.

“Oh Hope… I’m sorry. You maybe feel that way right now but I am so sure you two are going to make it. Please have a little faith, don’t give up so easy. He’s being an idiot please at least you stay sane.”

“Lizzie, I can’t. It’s better to lose faith now than to hold onto some false hope for years then be disappointed and hurt all over again. I just need to let this go. Please do the same.” Hope bagged her fighting her tears.

“I will never do that. I won’t make it hard for you... or Landon I promise but I cannot give up on the two of you. I love you both. I love all three of you, your daughter included. You would be such a cute family…” She said smiling.

“Lizzie!” Hope said firmly.

“Fine… I wish I could be there to give you a hug.”

“Maybe you can, I can arrange you a ticket right now!” She asked hopeful, she really needed her best friend right now.

“I wish… MG is working hard for the next three or four of weeks but he’ll have a break after. We could both fly to New Orleans and visit you. Perhaps my sister still be there by then.” 

“Yeah, that’s sounds good.” Hope smiled. “I don’t know about your sister, I’m not really going anywhere with the research...but I have an idea that might be a really bad one.”

“Yeah? What’s your plan?” She asked curiously

“I was thinking on asking someone… more powerful than me.”

“That’s impossible… As the only full tribrid in the world I’m pretty sure you are the most powerful being. Your daughter may beat you someday but as of right now…”

“I was thinking about my grandmother, Esther… she created vampires, she was the one bounding my dad’s wolf side, she knows one or two things about curses and how to reverse them.” Hope explained.

“Okay… Umm… isn’t she dead? And isn’t she the evil witch who tried to kill you when you were born? She asked skeptically.

“Yeah sure… that’s an old story… she won’t try to kill me, at least I hope.” She laughed and really hoped that was the truth.

“I don’t know, Hope. Communicating with the dead is always tricky. Are you sure it’s safe?” 

“It should be. She’s a witch, I have her bloodline it shouldn’t be that hard to reach her.”

“So you haven’t done this before?” Lizzie still had worry in her voice. Hope was obviously nervous but she was positive it could work. She just didn’t know what to expect and the unknown scared her slightly.

“No, I haven’t. Not successfully at least. I mean I tried every way to communicate or get in touch somehow with my parents but that never worked… they were not witches so I couldn’t find them, I didn’t know how to reach them. Then I gave up... besides it is best to let them be in peace.” Hope added a little anxiously.

“Ok… you know what you can handle, just please be careful if you do this.”Lizzie said worried.

“Sure, thanks Lizzie.” She smiled at her on the screen. “I’m gonna go, check on Scarlett. Call me tomorrow?”

“Sure see ya tomorrow.”

Two weeks later everything went back to semi normal. Scarlett was okay, she seemed to be happy with her boyfriend, she spent a lot of time with him and with her friends. She also spent time with Landon as well. Hope was determined to move on from Landon. She held her ground and never asked Scarlett how he was when she came home from Landon and Hope never listened in to their phone calls anymore. It seemed to work… well it worked during the day, but the lonely nights were still unbearable for her. She wondered every night how long is it going to hurt and if it was even possible for her to let him go truly.

One morning she was still getting ready in her room when she heard noises from to courtyard. She quickly ran down, she was pretty sure it will be one of the hybrids and she was right. It was Rafael.

“What’s going on Raf?” Hope asked casually as she walked to the courtyard to greet him.

“We might have a lead on the hunter girl.” He said anxiously.

“Om my god, are you serious? How? The witches find something?” Hope asked excited.

“No, actually. She was spotted by a vampire a few towns over. He saw her this morning. She was just shopping in a supermarket. He followed her to a townhouse. He took some photos and the vampires headed over there to keep an eye on the house.” He explained as he handed his phone to Hope to check the photos the vampire took.

“She was staying in the area the whole time? It doesn’t really make any sense.” Hope wondered out loud. “Where is she exactly?”

Raf told her the name of the town and the address where she was spotted.

“What should we do about her now?” He asked.

“Tell the vampires who are already there to grab the girl and take her to the abounded building where we took her first. I don’t really want to deal with her outside of our city. If they need help you or the others go as well.” Hope instructed the hybrid.

“Sure, I’ll let them now.”

“Okay, see you in the building in a little while.” Hope said as Raf exited the compound.

Hope was about to let Scarlett know she was leaving soon but she spotted her standing on the top of the stairs outside in the courtyard.

“What was that about?” Scarlett asked curiously.

“We might just have a lead on the hunter. But don’t worry about it ok? I will tell you if we have concrete facts.” Hope didn’t really want to get her involved. She was planning to tell her after she finally killed Amy. “I’m gonna go out check this lead soon. You gonna be okay until then?”

“Sure! I might go out with my friends for a while. Is that okay?”

“Yes, of course! Go, have fun!”

Hope was in the abandoned building with a couple of hybrids. They were waiting for the vampires to deliver Amy when one of the hybrid’s phone rang and he answered to it. Hope was listening in on the conversation. It was one of the vampires who supposed to bring the hunter girl to them. His speech was barely understandable on the other side of the line. His voice was muffled and it sounded like he was in pain.

“It’s trap… they all dead.” That was all they could understand before the line broke.

The hybrid was trying to call any other vampires who were on the job but no one answered. They needed a plan as soon as possible.

“You call the others” Hope instructed the other hybrid there. She knew something wasn’t right. She won’t send anyone else there to get the girl, no one else is dying on her watch.

“You call Victor tell him what his vampire told you.” She instructed the hybrid who was still trying to reach any vampire who went to get the girl.

“I’ll go there and check out the situation. Will report back to you how to proceed.” Hope told the hybrids there.

“You want to go there alone?” One of them asked.

“I can’t be killed, you can. I’ll see how serious it is and how she killed a handful of vampires. I assume she is not alone so please wait for my instructions.” Hope told them.

She hopped into her car and drove to the address Raf had told her. When she arrived near to the place she parked a few houses over from where she needed to go. It was a quiet suburban area. She used an invisibility spell and walked over to the house. There was a car parking on the street in front of the house which was vaguely familiar to Hope but couldn’t place it from where. She noticed empty gas bottles near the house. The vampires probably tried to gas her out to get to her. It didn’t turn out so well for them, Hope noticed blood stains around the porch. She listened carefully of the sounds coming from inside. She heard a man and a woman talking then she heard Amy’s voice as well. She picked up eleven heartbeats from the house. Her vampire senses picked up only two humans out of the eleven. One’s heartbeat was particularly fast, she or he must have been worried or terrified. The other one was definitely Amy, she was calm and she heard her voice as well. She had to figure out how to get inside the house. If they won’t cooperate she might just have to bur the house down with the people inside. She didn’t really care.

As she got closer to the front door her senses picked up something similar. Her nerves twitched at the sensation and she started sweating as she gasped for air. It was Scarlett. Her daughter. What the hell was she doing here where a handful of vampires just got slaughtered? She remembered that car now, it was Oliver’s. And the rapid human heartbeat…

“Oh god what the hell was going on?” she murmured to herself.

She needed to get in there as soon as possible, she needed to see her daughter, to see if she was all right. She needed a more peaceful approach than burning the house down… so she made herself visible again and knocked on the door. Amy answered right away.

“Oh it’s you! Just the person I wanted to see.” She smirked viscously.

Hope saw a witch casting something inside, probably she was the one cloaking Amy all this time.

“Are you going to invite me in then?” Hope asked with hatred in her eyes.

“Why not! Come on in, we have quite a party in here.” She said and let Hope in. She entered the house.

They passed the witch who was visible from the door casting and entered the livingroom. Hope’s heart skipped several beat when she saw Scarlett and Oliver tied to a chair. Their mouth’s were tied as well with some dirty cloth strip. Scarlett looked relieved and her eyes smiled when she noticed her, Oliver just looked terrified. There were seven vampires with the kids in the room.

“What the hell? Are you kidnapping children now?” Hope asked furiously. She didn’t want to use any of her powers just yet, she needed to see what she stepped into.

“These are not children, these are wolves. I remember that girl, she was with you once. I probably killed her parents from the look she had on her face.” Amy laughed.

“They are not wolves. Let them go or you, all of you will regret this.”

“Maybe not yet but they will be wolves on day… It’s better to get rid of them before they kill a human.” Amy spitted with anger.

“For the record the boy is a human. And you are friends with vampires? Do you think they don’t kill any humans?” Hope asked with a dry laugh.

“I don’t care what they do until they help me kill the people responsible for my parents’ death. Wolves and you. You admitted to brutally murdering my father even though you are clearly not a wolf.”

“You don’t know what I am?” Hope asked with a smirk. She was pretty sure after they got the memories back people would know who she was. But Amy was just a stupid girl who had one goal and didn’t do a throughout job.

“Of course I know. I saw you suck a bunch of my friend’s veins dry. You are a vampire. But I have bad news. I have a witch and seven vampires here and they just murdered three of your friends in no time.” Amy said it with so much confidence.

“Oh” Hope was really surprised. When she was held in their captivity Amy probably never saw a vampire before. She had no idea they were a little more than an ordinary vampire. “So what’s your plan? What’s your witch friend doing?”

“She makes sure none of your witch friend or no one ever will find you.” She answered with hatred.

“Okay… that’s totally unnecessary. Look I will stay here with you as long as you let the kids go.” Hope still smiled at the girl.

“I’m not letting go anyone. They came here, disturbing us, they will pay the price and perhaps watch you die before we end them... like you made me watch you killing my hunter friends.”

“Okay… I had enough of this.” Hope raised her hand and murmured a spell. The ties on the kids hands, feet and mouths dropped on the floor. Amy’s mouth opened in shock and she yelled for the witch. The vampires were attacking Hope but she just kept her eyes on the kids as she ripped a couple or so heart out. When the witch entered she used a pain spell on Hope and she momentarily lost her focus on the children. When she was down a few more vampires attacked her. She saw as a vampire bursted out in flames which made the witch loose her focus for a moment and Hope snapped the witch’s neck with magic then ripped the remaining vampires hearts out in no time. When she turned her head back to the kids Amy was also in flames screaming in pain for a moment than she dropped to the floor lifeless. Scarlett cried hysterically at the sight. Hope immediately knew where the fire came from. She quickly put it out on Amy and rushed to kill her quickly before the fire would end her. She ran to her but it was too late. Amy was dead.

“She… she… tried to kill Oliver” Scarlett cried franticly. Then she dropped to the floor as her eyes started to glow yellow.


	24. Chapter 24

Hope laid next to Scarlett in her bed stroking her back as she cried quietly. Hope compelled Oliver to forget everything that happened. She came back to the compound right away with Scarlett. She was hysterical they couldn’t really talk. Hope sent a short text to the hybrids that problem solved then tried to comfort her daughter all night.

It was traumatizing for her for sure. Killing someone like that even if the person was responsible for her mother’s death it was awful. And she is a wolf now. She killed a human. Luckily they just passed full moon a few days ago so they had almost a whole month to prepare for the change. Hope felt sorry for her girl but she was incredibly mad at her. What was she thinking going there and dragging Oliver with her. It made her angry and disappointed. On the other hand she should’ve known. Scarlett was toying with the idea of killing Amy, Hope knew. She always asked about their progress on finding her. Shit she did want to kill her, that’s why she was there. Hope should’ve taken it more seriously and she should’ve talked with her about how revenge would never heal her wounds… it just made it worse.

Hope eventually fell asleep. When she woke up Scarlett was clinging to her, lying on her chest. She wasn’t sleeping anymore.

“Have you gotten any sleep?” Hope asked her petting her hair.

“Some I guess.” She said holding onto Hope.

“Do you want to tell me what happened yesterday? Why were you there?” Hope asked her.

“Can you just hold me for a little longer?” She asked with shaky voice.

“Sure” Hope hugged her tightly as Scarlett laid on her chest.

They laid there in silence for what it seemed like for hours when Scarlett finally decided to let Hope go. She sat up on her bed and Hope followed along.

“I heard what Rafael said… I heard the address, I just wanted to be sure she didn’t get away this time.” She said with teary eyes as she looked into Hope blue eyes.

“Scarlett, I was going to take care of it… What were you thinking? This is what you were planning? Killing her?” Hope asked her quite infuriated though she didn’t really want to show how upset she was, she knew Scarlett was a wreck anyway.

“She killed my mom, Hope!” Scarlett said raising her voice. “She deserved what she got… I just didn’t plan it that way. It felt so wrong.” She started to cry again.

“Revenge is never the answer sweetheart. You won’t feel better about what happened with your mom… and you’ll have to live with what you did for the rest of your life.” Hope said as she caressed her face wiping her tears off but she just cried harder.

“But she deserved to die. Why don’t I get to feel better?” She sobbed and Hope hugged her tightly.

“I’m sorry, so sorry.” Hope said as she held her.

“I saw you down, and those vampires attacked you.” She said after her sobs calmed down a little. “And I knew fire would kill a vampire that’s why I used that spell on one of them… then I just saw that bitch attacking Oliver with a knife and I couldn’t think of any other spell or anything else to do so I did the same. It was awful to see her suffer like that… even if she killed my mom the same way, I don’t think I can ever forged the way she screamed, the way she smelled.”

“I’m sorry you have to live with this now, I’m sorry we haven’t talked about things like this before. But you need to move on, you need to live. And you need to prepare for your turn in a few weeks. You need to be strong for that because it’s going to be the worst pain of your life.” Hope said as she slowly let her go and looked into her daughter’s teary eyes. “And what the hell were you thinking bringing Oliver into this Scarlett?” Hope asked her firmly.

“I needed to get there and he has a car… I just wanted him to drive me then leave but he wouldn’t leave me and those vampires got us… I didn’t even have any chance to use a spell or something… I thought they were going to kill us. I was stupid to drag him into this, he could’ve died. I’m sorry, I’ll never do that again… I’ll break up with him. My mom was right, we can’t get involved with humans.”

“Oh honey… If he makes you happy don’t break up with him. You just need to be more careful and not get him into danger. It doesn’t mean you two can’t hang out.” Hope tried to comfort her.

“Landon makes you happy and you don’t do anything about it… so let me do what I think is right.” She said bitterly.

“Don’t get him involved with this… Of course you do what you think is right in your relationship, I just don’t want to see you unhappy.” Hope said but Scarlett just shrugged it seemed like she didn’t want to talk about his boyfriend anymore. “I’ll make some breakfast. You coming downstairs soon?” Hope changed the subject.

“Not hungry” That’s all she said and laid back to her bed.

“Ok… I’ll check on you later.” Hope kissed her cheek and told her she loved her before she left her room.

Hope talked to the hybrids and with the faction leaders that morning about what happened and probably it was the end of their dilemma with the wolf hunters though they shouldn’t let their guard down. She talked to Lizzie again that day. She told her what happened and that Scarlett triggered her wolf curse. She couldn’t wait to have Lizzie in New Orleans again, she really needed her. Lizzie asked her how Landon took the news and it made Hope anxious. She was pretty sure Scarlett hasn’t told him yet, not on the phone… She had no idea how he would take it. He was so unpredictable lately, blaming Hope for everything… she wouldn’t be surprised if he’d blame her for Scarlett triggering her curse. Scarlett had to tell him sooner or later and Hope dreaded that moment.

She made a sandwich for Scarlett for lunch and took it upstairs for her. She ate some but wasn’t too chatty. Hope wanted to ask her if she told Landon or how and when she was planning to tell him, but she found it better not to ask just yet. Scarlett was sad and a moody newly triggered wolf. She decided to leave her alone for a day with her questions, she already bugged her about Oliver.

Later that afternoon Hope just couldn’t stop thinking about Landon. How would he react? Would he come here to yell at her blaming her again? Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing if it would end like last time… but no, Hope couldn’t go there again. She needed a distraction from these thoughts.

Hope entered the library. She walked to an empty space and drew a large circle on the empty hard board floor. She gathered some ingredients, mixed a potion then lit some candles and placed it around the circle. She sat in the middle of the circle. Her heart beat fast, she was really nervous about what she was about to do. She questioned herself at least a dozen times as she sat there but finally decided to go ahead with the spell. She murmured the spell then when she finished she gulped down the potion she made. Then everything went black.

Hope woke up in a sunny field. She looked around and all she saw was the bright blue sky and grassy field with some colorful wild flowers growing in between them. She stood up and took a deep breath. The air was clear and fresh, Hope could smell the grass, the flowers and the sun all at once. All the sensation made her feel happy. She didn’t see anyone or anything else besides the empty field so she started to walk. She felt like she was walking for hours but the scenery never changed. Finally Hope spotted what it seemed like a tiny house in the far distance. She walked towards it. She approached the house, it was a small cute cottage. It seemed like something from a fairy tale, Hope couldn’t stop to smile at the scenery. She listened carefully with her vampire hearing and heard two voices from the house. It was two women’s voice, they were chatting about ordinary things like the baking and gardening. The whole situation seemed innocent enough but to be sure, hope tried a simple spell to make sure her magic was working in this state of mind, since her body was lying back on the library floor. Luckily her magic worked perfectly. Then Hope decided to knock on the door.

A young woman, maybe in her early thirties or so opened the door. She had long brown hair and she was dressed in a dark pink long dress definitely from some other century. Hope knew that Esther was a blond so it couldn’t be her.

“Hi, sweetheart, what do we owe the pleasure?” The woman asked in a sweet voice.

“I was looking for Esther. Esther Mikaelson?” Hope answered the brunette woman.

“I’m Esther.” A blond younger woman who looked to be in her twenties answered as she walked to the door. She wore similar outdated clothes to the brunette in a lighter yellowish color with flower pattern on it. “And this is my sister Dahlia. Who are you and why are you looking for me here?” She asked with a kind smile.

Hope froze when she heard who the other woman was. Surely her grandmother wasn’t the nicest person when she was alive but Dahlia was even worse. She took Freya and tried to take Hope away from her family to take and abuse her powers for herself. She didn’t remember that time since she was a toddler but her family told horror stories about her great aunt Dahlia when she was younger.

“My name is Hope and I came here seeking your advice and possibly your help.” Hope told Esther. She was anxious about Dahlia’s presence but she won’t give up now.

“Hope?” They both asked in awe. “You are the daughter of my son Niklaus?” Esther asked her and Hope nodded.

“You grew up to be a beautiful young woman.” Dahlia stated with a smile and Hope looked at her unsure of her motivations. “Come on in sweetheart. We are making tea. Would you like a cup?” She asked and gestured Hope to go inside their tiny cottage.

They sat on chairs by a small wooden table while Dahlia was pouring tea for everyone.

“What is this place?” Hope asked the two women.

“This is our home.” Esther answered with a smile. “When we died together the universe was so gracious that granted us to be together forever.”

“Is it just a two of you here?” Hope asked curiously.

“Unfortunately.” Dahlia answered bitterly but then laughed about it. “We are lucky to have each other.” She continued.

“Why did you exactly come here? Why do you think I could help? I have no powers in the real world, and we could never be returned to the living.” Esther asked Hope.

“I have a question about a curse and maybe you can help me how to break it. I know you’ve dealt with your fair share of curses.” Hope answered and Esther nodded. Meanwhile Dahlia served the tea and joined to the table which made Hope nervous.

“Have you heard of the Gemini coven? Hope asked Esther. Esther and Dahlia looked at each other before Esther answered Hope.

“Ancient witch coven, their traditions go back more than a thousand years.”

“Not much left of them… To be honest there’s only three members. My friend and her twin sons. My friends are twins too, but the one who didn’t make the merge is a vampire so I don’t think she technically belongs to the coven.” Hope explained. “Do you know any way to stop the merge of the twins? They don’t care about the coven and traditions anymore they just want to live their life as normal as possible but they are terrified of losing one of their sons.”

“Geminis and their damn twins… I can tell you the story behind the curse. I remember the stories but I don’t have much idea how to break it.” Esther said and Hope nodded with anticipation. “Centuries ago there was the coven, the Geminies. Back then they had twins as much as any other person, it wasn’t a particularly common thing with them, but they were determined that if one of the families in the coven had twins they were cursed. I don’t know if it was true or not but as soon as a twin was born they killed off the weakest one. They lived like that for centuries until one of the coven leader’s wife gave birth to twins. She was determined to save both her babies and bagged to her husband, the leader to save them both. So the coven elders created a curse for the family that the mother could enjoy raising her babies but on their 22nd birthday their power would merge into one, the strongest absorbing the weak twin who would of course die in the end. Unfortunately for you, I have no knowledge on how exactly they created the merge. I just know that when the first pair of twins went under the merge, the strongest one loved the power so much that he wouldn’t stop having children until he had his own pair of twins to continue this tradition. In time the whole coven bind their power and life to the leading twin. Centuries later probably due to genetics the coven leaders were dropping twins after twins… and maybe they helped with some magic too, since their whole coven would’ve died if there was no twins and no merge.” She explained and Hope sighed loudly. This didn’t help at all. She had no clue what to do if Esther won’t help her.

“Can I talk to you in private dear sister?” Dahlia asked Esther and they walked outside leaving Hope in the house. Hope looked out of the window and saw the two talk very firmly. Perhaps they were arguing. Hope couldn’t hear a thing. They probably used magic to silence their conversation from Hope. Dahlia might have a solution for her, but Hope wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear anything from that woman. What it seemed like through the window, Esther didn’t like what she was about. Hope watched them for a while until it looked like they were settled, and Esther was smiling happily. When they headed to the door to get back to the cabin Hope quickly sat back to her place at the table.

“Is everything okay?” Hope asked as they entered.

“Of course, sweetheart.” Dahlia smiled.

“My sister here suggested something that might help with those boys but I don’t think you will go through with it, so I told her to not even mention it… but she is determined.” Esther added as she sat back to the table.

“What is that?” Hope asked looking at Dahlia. She could listen, it didn’t mean she would do whatever she was suggesting.

“I could take the curse away, with your help of course… your connection to this realm through your blood.” Dahlia suggested with an unsettling smirk on her face. Hope just looked at her questioning. “Life for a life. Or lives for lives in this case.” Dahlia said.

“Okay, I heard enough.” Hope said standing up from the table. She didn’t need to hear this.

“Get me a pair of twins, they should be young. Younger the better. I can trade their life force and their curse… but only if we have the connection through you.”

“Sure… And how would I get you a pair of twins? And how does it help if you transfer the curse to other children? Josie would never agree.” Hope snapped.

“You don’t understand sweetheart.” Dahlia smiled, scribbled something on a paper and tucked the paper in Hope’s jeans pocket. Before Hope could ask what it was, Dahlia continued her speech. “ I said life for a life. I need you to kill the twins you find, I will channel their life force through you and exchange it with those boys. The unnamed twins would be happy here with us and even though they’d receive the curse, it wouldn’t matter here, there are no curses and no death in this world.” Dahlia explained.

“Because you are already dead! I’m not killing anyone especially not innocent children! I’m done with this!” Hope was infuriated. She said the spell again, the same one she used to get in contact with Esther then she blacked out again.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who is still here and reading, near the end. I only have 5 chapters left after this one and I kinda finished writing them all, so I think I can drop one per day now, until the end of month.  
> Love you all!!!

A couple days passed since Hope contacted with Esther and Dahlia. She was still furious and strangely sick since the event. How could she suggest such thing? The thought made her sick and ran to the bathroom to throw up. It’s been a couple days, the ill effect of the dark magic she did should be gone soon. Usually it didn’t affect her that hard but again, she never communicated with the dead before and she never magically travelled to an other realm where dead witches lived before. So she suffered the sickish side effects.

Hope was in her room collecting laundry when she threw a pair of jeans in the basket she noticed a paper in the pocket. She thought it was impossible. It was in another realm, how did she pass it on here? She grabbed the paper to throw it away but her curiosity won and read the notes. It was a spell, seemed complicated but manageable. No, she couldn’t think like that. She had to scold herself to even think of the possibility. Scarlett entered her room with a basket.

“Here’s my laundry” She threw it on the floor.

“You can take it in the laundry room Scarlett!” Hope told her as she still stared at the paper in her hand.

“What are you doing?” Scarlett asked looking strangely at Hope.

“Reading this paper.” Hope said showing her the little note.

“You mean your hand? There’s no paper there.” Scarlett shrugged.

“What? That’s strange!” Hope wondered. So she didn’t bring the paper through… or did she? How could she be the only one seeing it.

“Did you make it invisible? something secret on it?” She asked with a smirk. Hope did a spell reversing an invisibility spell but nothing happened.

“It’s not invisible.” She said out loud. “It seems like only I can see it.”

“Wow. What is it? Where did you get it?” She asked curiously.

“My dead great aunt gave me a couple of days ago.” Hope shrugged.

“What?? How? You can talk to the dead?” She asked in awe.

“I could talk to her and my grandmother… They were very powerful witches, I wanted to ask them about the merge.” Hope explained.

“Did they help? Do you think you can talk to my mom?” She asked excited.

“Oh Scarlett… I’m sorry it doesn’t work like that. I can’t talk to your mom, not even with my mom… Somehow it is always easier to reach or even resurrect witches. Since my grandmother and I are both powerful witches and I am her lineal descendent it worked and I could contact with her, but usually it’s very difficult. I tried for years with my parents and it never worked… I’m sorry.” She explained.

“It’s ok.” Scarlett smiled. “So did they help with the merge?”

“No, not really. My great aunt Dahlia is a sociopath so she had some unsettling suggestions but nothing that would help the boys.”

“What did she suggest?” Scarlett asked curiously.

“You really want to know?” Hope asked her and she nodded. “Fine, she suggested to kill a young couple of twins and she would trade their life for Josie’s boys.”

“Oh god! Yeah, you can’t do that.”

“Obviously. So… have you talked to Landon?” Hope asked and Scarlett just threw herself on the bed and she let out a frustrated sound. “You know you need to tell him sooner or later.”

“What can I tell him? I killed someone Hope, he’ll judge me, he’ll hate me for it.”

“Hey, he’s not going to hate you! That will never happen.” Hope sat down at the end of the bed where she laid and patted her leg.

“Can you be there with me when I tell him?” She asked Hope and sat up on the bed next to her.

“You know he doesn’t want to see me.” Hope told her sadly.

“I’ll ask him… I’m sure he will be okay with you if I tell him I need you there.” Scarlett suggested.

“Fine, if you really need me there, ask him.”

“Thank you!” Scarlett smiled and hugged Hope.

Later that day Scarlett collected herself to call Landon. Hope listened in their conversation. Scarlett told him that she’ll need to tell him something, that something happened. Landon was very much worried as Scarlett’s voice vas nervous. She told him she needed to talk to him in person and that she needed Hope there as well. Landon’s voice changed when Hope came up he obviously didn’t like the idea but agreed and even suggested to go over to Hope’s place to talk.

They were waiting for Landon anxiously in the living room. They sat next to each other. Scarlett was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt nervously. Hope put her arm around her and pulled her in a side hug.

“It’s gonna be all right. okay?” She tried to calm her but she was a mess as well. She was nervous to face Landon after their last time together and she was afraid he was going to blame her for Scarlett’s incident.

When Landon entered the room, Scarlett was laying her head on Hope’s shoulder. She quickly straightened herself anxiously.

“Hey” Landon greeted the girls in the room.

“Hi” They both said nervously. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?” Hope asked him as he sat down in an armchair.

“No, thank you.” He answered not looking directly at Hope. It kinda bothered her that he couldn’t even look into her eyes after what they did a couple weeks ago. “So why am I here?” He asked looking at Scarlett.

“I just wanted to tell you what happened recently.” Scarlett answered anxiously and looked at Hope. Hope gave her a reassuring look. “I… I triggered my wolf.” She said quietly.

“What? Oh my god! Are you okay?” Landon asked concerned.

“Yeah, I guess… I don’t know.” She shrugged. Hope knew she wasn’t well since then. She had nightmares since Amy died. Scarlett told Hope, she saw her burn to death then it changed to her mom and saw her own mom burning every time she closed her eyes. She was also determined to break up with Oliver, but she didn’t have the courage to talk to him yet. She was far from okay.

“What happened?” He asked her. Scarlett looked Hope with concerned eyes. Hope tried to encourage her with a hint but she slightly shook her head.

“Remember the hunter who planned the attacked on the pack.” Hope spoke instead of Scarlett. “She died.” Hope slightly motioned towards Scarlett with her head and hoped Landon got it. She didn’t want to say out loud that she killed her.

“You mean… you?” He asked Scarlett and she just nodded not looking up to him. “But it was an accident. Right?” He asked then Scarlett looked at him. She seemed angry. Then he looked at Hope with teary eyes.

“I told you he wouldn’t understand!” She cried then got up and stormed out of the living room. Hope got up as well to go after her.

“What the hell?” Landon asked Hope. “She really killed someone?” He asked in shock.

“Could you please wait here? I’ll check if she is all right… I’ll be right back.” Hope told him and he nodded.

Hope followed Scarlett upstairs to her room and opened it without knocking. She was sobbing on her bed.

“Scarlett what’s wrong? You know you can tell him everything. Why are you scared of him? I told you he won’t hate you for this.” Hope asked as she walked to her. She sat up o her bed.

“He’s judging me. He is this nice guy he is not like us… maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to be with you and I was just a good excuse for him to finally leave you.” She said bitterly.

“Okay Scarlett, I know you are upset and what happened with Amy didn’t turn out how you thought it would but you don’t get to hurt the people around you because you are hurt. This is not how it works. You need to take responsibility for what happened. You killed Amy Arnold and you need to deal with it, I am sorry. You know I am here for you for everything you need, if you need to talk or a hug just ask. okay? You know how much I love you and it will never change, no matter what you do and I know your dad feels the same way. “

“You shouldn’t have pushed me to talk to him.” Scarlett interrupted. “I don’t think he’ll feel the same way after he knows I’m a murderer.”

“He will, I promise. I’m going to talk to him now okay? You don’t have to but if you change your mind please come downstairs… and I’m sorry if you felt like I push you to do something you didn’t want to.” Hope added and Scarlett just nodded then laid back to her bed.

Hope went back to Landon who was still sitting in the living room. She sat back on her spot on the couch.

“So what happened?” Landon asked.

“I don’t know Lan. It’s my fault, I should’ve paid closer attention to her. He overheard me and Raf talking about the hunter’s possible whereabouts and she went there. When I got there she was already there. Her boyfriend drove her… The hunter girl had vampires and a witch to help her, they killed a few of our vampires. When I got there Scarlett and Oliver were tied up, they were going to kill them. I took care of them but at some point when I wasn’t looking the hunter was going to stab Oliver and Scarlett acted quickly… She used a fire spell. It was really quick, she was dead in seconds.” Hope explained.

“Oh my god, that’s horrible. Thank god they both all right. The boy? How did he take it?” Landon asked.

“I compelled him, he was traumatized… but Scarlett is planning on breaking up with him because of all this… I don’t know, she is a mess Lan and I don’t know what to do.” Hope said in a sad tone.

“God, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I want to help out Hope, you don’t have to handle this alone.”

“I don’t think you would’ve picked up if I call you… and Scarlett was very hesitant to tell you. She still is, she thinks you’d hate her for what she did.”

“God, why would she think that? Do you think she still wants to see me?” Landon asked concerned

“Just go upstairs to her room and tell her please.” Hope said and Landon got up to rush to Scarlett’s room.

They were in there talking for a while. Hope deliberately occupied herself with painting to not eavesdrop on their conversation.

Landon knocked on the art room door after a while. Hope opened the door, stepped outside to the hallway and closed it behind her.

“So, how did it go?” Hope asked him.

“I made sure she understands that I’m not judging and I will be by her no matter what she does, but I also told her that it wasn’t ok to go behind your back and take her boyfriend to that place.” Landon explained.“And honestly it bothers me that she went there with the purpose of killing her.” He whispered.

“I know but she killed her mother and a lot more people of the pack. She was angry… I was the same way Landon.”

“If I remember correctly, at least from what you told me years ago, after your mom died, you couldn’t kill Roman who was responsible.”

“He wasn’t Landon. He was a kid who was manipulated by her sociopath nazi mother. If his mother didn’t die that day, I would’ve killed her myself after I tortured her… so it wasn’t the same. Amy deserved to die. She didn’t show any remorse she didn’t even care about killing children. I was planning to kill her… unfortunately Scarlett was faster.”

“Well then I can see where she got all this… rage and anger.” He smirked.

“It’s not funny Landon.” But she smiled back.

“I know, it’s really sad… but she’s a wolf and she got it from you. It was bound to happen sooner or later. By the way, it’s not your fault, don’t blame yourself. Ok?” He said it with a comforting smile.

Hope smiled back but now that he was so sweet and comforting all she could think about was the last time they were standing in that hallway. She stared at his perfect lips and longed for a taste, just one kiss. Her arousal hit her hard of the thought of their last time together. One kiss wouldn’t be enough of him. But she quickly looked away from him and stared at the wall. She had to stop thinking like that and let him move on. Let herself move on. They would never be together again, Landon was very clear about that.

“Umm… Hope, “ Landon started and she had no choice but to look at his beautiful face. “I was thinking that umm… we should be able to talk about Scarlett. You should be able to call me whenever, if our daughter is involved. I know it’s going to be harder for both of us, but we need to communicate, for her. So I won’t ignore your calls but please only call if it is about her. Ok? Don’t make this more difficult than we have to. And I will do the same, I’ll call you if something involves Scarlett.” Hope just nodded with a smile when Landon finished his speech. It made sense, they really should be able to talk about their daughter and it wasn’t Hope who needed to take a step it was Landon, and he did. Then why did she feel sad and disappointed. She needed to get over herself. Never going to happen! Hope needed to tell herself that and she probably needed a cold shower too.

Landon left after that and Hope went to her room to take that cold shower. She was thinking to go for a run later that night, she hasn’t wolfed out since she and Landon had sex but now that she saw him again she needed at least some kind of release. Then she remembered Scarlett and her horrible nightmares lately. No, she couldn’t leave her alone at night, not right now. She needed to put off wolfing out for when she’d be better. Until then she just had to figure out something by herself to ease her restlessness.

The next morning Hope woke up in Scarlett’s bed. Scarlett woke in the middle of the night screaming again, so Hope rushed to her to calm her down. In the process she fell asleep as well. In the morning Hope felt that nauseating feeling again she had since the day she spoke to Esther and Dahlia. She grunted and moved to her side and took a couple of deep breath.

“You okay?” Scarlett asked her concerned.

“Never do dark magic. It’s a pain in the ass.” She moaned.

“Are you still sick? Do you need something?” The girl asked.

“No, just need some more rest.” Hope said and closed her eyes.

Hope fall asleep and woke up later, around eleven in the morning. She found a note on the bedside table from Scarlett. She wrote: ‘Gone to talk to Oliver. Wish me luck. By the way, I am really sorry for the way I talked to you yesterday. Love you! S.’

Hope just smiled. Poor girl, she really liked that boy. And Hope didn’t have a problem with him either. He was nice kind and smart, not a trouble maker. He was like a perfect first boyfriend. But it looked like she was moving on and so did Hope. At least they had each other to support one an other with their relationship problems.

Hope still felt a little sick but at least she didn’t throw up. She got ready quickly for the day, she knew Josie would be their soon to discuss her process… and she had to tell her that there’s absolutely no way to save her boys. She should start to get comfortable with the idea of one her son as a vampire. Not much later Josie arrived to the compound. A while back, after Josie remembered Hope, she gave her free access to her home as well. They chit chatted for a while, talked about their kids and stuff before they got into more heavy subjects.

“So… do you have any lead?” Josie asked Hope with a hopeful look.

“Jo” Hope inhaled and exhaled slowly. “I really tried everything... no one knows how the curse was created and without that knowledge there’s no way to break it. I am really sorry.”

“Oh. Well you tried and that’s all you promised, so thank you for that Hope… but seriously no one heard of the curse? How is that even possible?” She asked disappointed.

“It was created more than a thousand years ago… I even asked my 1000 year old grandmother but other than a useless story she couldn’t help.” Hope explained sadly.

“Oh my god. You asked your grandmother? Isn’t she dead?” Josie asked concerned.

“Yeah, a few days ago… Did a spell to communicate with her. Ended up in a weird realm where she ended up with her sister, my great aunt. It was a pretty unique experience but honestly I’m still sick from the magic I used.” Hope said making a sick expression putting her hand on her stomach which still felt slightly nauseas.

“Hope! You shouldn’t have done that! It’s never safe to be involved with the dead. You know we need to let them rest in peace. No good ever comes from them… especially if it makes you sick.”

“I’m okay Jo, a little nausea I can handle. But you are right no good comes from them… god, my great aunt had the sickest suggestion. I can’t even think about that or I’m gonna throw up again.” Hope said with a disgusted face then she remembered that she shouldn’t have mentioned that to Josie. It was still about her sons and she obviously would never agree to Dahlia’s plan so it was really stupid from Hope to slip that information, now she’ll need to tell Josie what she was about.

“What suggestion? About the merge?” Josie asked curiously.

“Yeah, but it’s a disgusting plan from a power hungry witch who kidnapped my aunt to abuse her powers and was planning to do the same with me.” Hope said uncomfortably not even wanting to mention what she said.

“But what was it? There is a way. Is it?” Josie asked in a hopeful tone.

“No Jo. She wants us to kill a pair of twin kids or babies or whatever and she would trade their life force for your boys.”

“Oh… that is sick. What would she even gain from it? Does she just enjoy killing kids?” Josie asked disgusted.

“They would have the twins’ soul there with them… the dead ones. I think they are lonely… or just had enough of each other and wanted some fresh souls with them. She would use me as a connection for the trade and the curse of the merge would be connected to the dead twins instead of yours… but they obviously didn’t have to deal with it since they were already dead.” Hope shook her head in disbelief that she even told that to Josie.

“We are obviously never going to do that. I’m sorry you got involved with your sick family members. I’m sorry I ever pushed you into this. I think we need to give up.” Josie said with teary eyes.

“I’m sorry Jo.” Hope hugged her and Josie returned the hug as she cried.

A couple days later Lizzie and MG arrived to town. Hope couldn’t be happier. Lizzie wanted to go to their usual girls night out but Hope was still hesitant to leave Scarlett alone for a night after the recent events so they agreed to have a lighter version at Hope’s place. They ended up inviting Josie and Penelope as well. Landon and MG agreed to watch the little boys for the night.

They settled in the living room, even Scarlett joined them. They were drinking (except Scarlett of course), talking about everything and having fun all night. Hope noticed that Jo and Penelope often exchanged an anxious look. She didn’t want to get into any relationship drama, she had enough of her own so didn’t ask but after a longer silence when they noticeably stared at each other impatiently Penelope started to talk.

“So Hope… Jo mentioned what you did… contacting with your grandmother and great aunt.” She said hesitantly and Hope just nodded. She thought they were done with that.

“God! Can we not ruin the mood?” Lizzie added. Hope obviously told her what happened. They talked almost every day.

“You know I was just thinking… I remember when I was a kid that our coven always did this weird ritual whenever a child would pass within our coven… they said when an innocent soul passes they stick around their physical body for a while. So my coven always took good care of the children who unfortunately passed away even after their death for at least 24-48 hours… I did some research in the past couple of days and it is true for any innocent soul… not just witches.” Penelope explained.

“I don’t see how this has to do anything with the merge.” Hope said uncomfortably.

“Children die every day, Hope… from sickness, accidents or whatever...” Josie added silently.

“What the hell are you thinking Jo? You are not going to do any of that shit!” Lizzie said furiously.

“Yeah, I don’t think we should mess with kids, even if they were already dead. And we would need twins… How are you going to find a pair of dead twins who passed within 48 hours? It’s impossible.” Hope shook her head. She really wanted to avoid this. Hope felt it in her guts that this wasn’t right at the moment she saw Dahlia was up to something.

“Sadly, it’s more likely for a twin birth to have complications and them to die at birth. We could keep an eye on the hospitals in the city.” Penelope suggested.

“You would really snatch dead newborns from a hospital? It’s kinda sick Pen.” Lizzie said it in disgust.

“They would be already dead and they’d be shoved in a cold and dark refrigerator. At least this way we could be with them until they truly passed… and they could be able to help to save our sons lives and our babies would be free to enjoy life and they could grow up to be whatever they would want to be.” Penelope added. Hope knew she shouldn’t agree to this. It was wrong, she felt it in her bones.

“One week. You get one week to find twins that are already dead and I am not going to help you with the search.” Hope said, she knew how important this was for Jo and she just couldn’t say no if there was a slight chance. But why was she feeling so distressed about this whole situation? She just hoped they wouldn’t find any babies and they would forget about the whole thing. She hoped…

…but six days later she received the call from Josie. They found them!


	26. Chapter 26

It was a Saturday morning when Hope got the call. They found a pair of very prematurely born twins who both lived only a few hours after they were born. Penelope and Josie would place the bodies back to the hospital after they were finished with the spell. They also spelled the doctors and parents so no one would know at the hospital that the babies were gone. When they’ll returned them to the hospital, the parents could arrange necessary steps after a tragedy like that. They would never know.

When Hope hung up the phone, she suddenly felt extremely sick again and barely reached the bathroom before she threw up. This whole situation made her anxious even her stomach couldn’t handle it. She had to get ready because Jo and Pen would be there soon to perform the spell. After she showered and got dressed, she headed to the kitchen to mix the necessary potion for the spell.

“Morning.” Hope entered the kitchen and greeted her daughter.

“Morning. Made some eggs. Want some?” Scarlett asked her.

“Ahh… no thanks. I don’t really feel well today.” Hope answered as she started to gather herbs and ingredients for a potion.

“Is it still the black magic? That was like almost two weeks ago.” Scarlett asked concerned.

“Probably just the news I received this morning… that I need to do black magic again. I think I’m sick in advance.” Hope explained as she mixed the ingredients.

“I’m like pretty new at magic but even I know it doesn’t work like that… so what news did you get? She asked curiously.

“Jo and Pen… They found… you know.” Hope told her with a disgusted queasy expression.

“Oh no. Are you gonna do it today?” Scarlett asked and Hope just nodded. “No wonder you feel sick then.” Scarlett made a disgusted face.

“Yeah… and how are you doing today?” Hope asked as she let the mixture sit on the counter while she sat down by Scarlett.

“I’m ok. I miss Oliver, but I think this is the best for now.” She said clearly heartbroken.

“I’m sorry baby. I wish I could make it all better for you.” She patted her hand lightly.

“But I didn’t have any nightmares today, so at least we both had a good night sleep.” She smiled trying to cheer the mood. Hope smiled at her in response.

“Good morning girls!” Lizzie entered the kitchen.

“Hey Liz, what are you doing here?” Hope asked, she was happy to see the blond girl.

“You know… Josie called me so I thought I would get here before them. Are you sure you are ready to do this Hope? It’s not too late to back down. I love my nephews and would do anything for them, but this just doesn’t fell right and honestly being a vampire is not the worst thing.” Lizzie said as she joined to Hope and Scarlett at the table.

“Well, I think it is too late for that. I gave them a week. I’m not going to quit now when I promised them. I can do the spell, I read it a million times and studied it in the past week. I could do it in my sleep.” Hope said it with an unsure smile.

“Sure… that’s why you are feeling sick all the time.” Scarlett added with an eyeroll.

“Are you still sick Hope? It’s been almost two weeks!” Lizzie said with worry.

“That’s what I said!” Scarlett said.

“I’m fine guys, really. I might be a little anxious about this whole plan, but it will work, I am positive about it.” Hope said as she tried to relax the others.

“Or you’re pregnant.” Lizzie blurted out and Hope laughed at that.

“That’s impossible.” Hope kept laughing.

“Oh my god, maybe you are! You usually sick in the morning. It could be morning sickness!” Scarlett said quickly.

“Well, morning sickness is usually a whole day thing when you are pregnant… and I know that because I was pregnant before and definitely not pregnant now.” Hope said a little annoyed.

“And you are always tired! You are sleeping in every day. You are a vampire, vampires shouldn’t be that exhausted all the time.” Scarlett said not letting it go.

“You know what vampires shouldn’t be? Pregnant!” Hope added more annoyed now… although she knew and Scarlett knew that wasn’t exactly truth for them. Hope didn’t really like to talk about it since she wasn’t exactly sure what her body was capable of. She was the first tribrid after all. She only shared the details with her daughter because she was going to be a full tribrid one day and at least she’d have more knowledge than Hope had once. When Hope turned to a vampire, she was sure that would make her infertile but imagine her surprise the next month when her monthly visitor came to say hi. So she thought she must be like her dad, like an original hybrid who would be able to procreate… but she obviously wasn’t ever ready to find that out. She used to mix up a magical birth control potion since she didn’t trust the pills for humans. She took that mixture for a while and she never had any problems and she did have a lot of sex in the past few years. She only stopped taking it after she told Landon the truth about Scarlett and Landon didn’t want to do anything with her… and Hope didn’t even want to think of any other men. So she was off ever since…

“Seriously?” Scarlett asked her with a hint of mockery and Hope felt concern washing over her at once.

“Oh my god you hesitated. You actually thought about it!” Lizzie said looking at Hope’s concerned face.

“No!” Hope tried to be confident. “And also, I’m sure I would hear an extra heartbeat inside my body if that would be the case… so for the last time. I am not pregnant!” 

“Hmm… well… you know you told me… you and Landon…were at it… about a month ago. Was it?” Lizzie tried to be subtle about it in front of Scarlett… well she tried.

“You had sex??” Scarlett asked excited and disturbed at the same time.

“Yeah but as I said there’s no baby… so can we please move on?” Hope pleaded. She truly didn’t have any energy to think about that. And the fact that she didn’t feel anything with her vampire senses luckily calmed her otherwise she might be thinking about this absurd idea.

“You know a baby doesn’t even have a heart until the 6th week of the pregnancy so there would be nothing to hear just yet.” Lizzie explained with concern in her eyes.

“What?” Hope froze suddenly. Could she be? Could she really be pregnant? Her heart suddenly started to beat faster. Surely Lizzie heard it too.

“Hey, calm down Hope. It’s going to be okay either way. If you are happened to be having a baby there’s no way you are going to do it alone.” Lizzie grabbed Hope’s hand in hers and squeezed it gently. She was grateful for her comforting words, but her heart just started to beat faster and faster and she felt like the air is tightening in her lungs. “You are never going to have to deal with something like this alone. You know that. Right?” Lizzie leaned in and hugged her tightly. “Come on, Hope, breath with me, calm down please.” She said gently as she hugged her and stroked her back.

Hope didn’t know what to think. If it was really true, what would she do about it? What would Landon do about it? And she knew the answer. Even if they won’t be together, he would stick around for the baby just like he stuck around for Scarlett. And Lizzie was right, she wouldn’t be alone. Landon and Scarlett would be around for sure and Lizzie would be there too. She didn’t have to do it alone. And with that her breathing returned to normal but she still hung onto Lizzie for a while.

“God! What if I’m pregnant?” Hope said as she tightly held onto Lizzie.

“Well, we know that you suck at using birthcontrol.” Lizzie smirked as she let Hope go. Scarlett just giggled at that.

“Oh god… is this really a possibility?” Hope wondered anxiously.

“You tell me.” Lizzie smiled at her.

“It is.” Scarlett added. “She totally has her period… I don’t think that’s a normal vampire thing.”

“Seriously? A vampire bleeding down there… wow that’s… something. Why didn’t you tell me?” Lizzie asked Hope.

“I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t want you to feel bad… I know how much you wanted kids.” Hope looked at her apologetically.

“Oh Hope. Don’t you worry about me! Yeah, maybe I’m jealous just a tiny bit but I’m not going to feel bad about myself, I accepted my faith a long time ago and I can be happy for you. If you are happy… about the situation.” Lizzie said comforting her.

“I don’t know… I might not even be pregnant so let’s not talk about it as a fact. But if that would be the case, I wouldn’t make the same mistake I did last time.” Hope smiled sadly at Scarlett.

“It would be fun to have a little brother or sister. I would be happy.” Scarlett added with a smile.

“Can you turn, Hope?” Lizzie asked wondering.

“Umm… haven’t tried since...” Hope shrugged.

“What about your period? Is it late? Did you miss it?” Lizzie continued interrogating her.

“Yeah, I guess… but it happens, and I’m pretty stressed out lately about Landon, this stupid spell and Scarlett turning next full moon. It’s just a lot now so maybe that’s why my body is acting out… although that’s what I thought when I was pregnant with Scarlett too. God, I don’t know what I supposed to do now.” Hope cried anxiously.

“First, you need to do a test to be sure. And you are definitely not doing that spell now.” Lizzie instructs her firmly.

“They are headed here right now. I can’t back down Lizzie, you know that. And I can handle it, really.” Hope tried to be relaxed about it but somehow it didn’t work.

“I agree Hope! Please don’t do the spell. You know it’s wrong. It doesn’t sound right to get dead babies involved. It’s so gross, please don’t do it!” Scarlett pleaded.

With that Hope heard someone entering the compound.

“I think they are here.” Lizzie said, she heard them too. “I’ll go talk to them.”

“No! Lizzie, please don’t tell this to anyone! It’s not even sure, I might not be pregnant so please let’s keep this between the three of us.”

“Fine, it’s our secret I promise, but please do a pregnancy test before you do the spell!” Lizzie replied firmly.

“I don’t have any and to do a spell for that takes time which we don’t have… those babies are dead for a while we shouldn’t wait any longer. I’ll do it right after!” Hope said with pretended confidence.

Josie walked in the kitchen where Hope and the others were sitting.

“Hey, we are all ready.” Josie said as she greeted the girls.

“Great Jo! Can you just give Hope a moment?” Lizzie asked slightly infuriated.

“It’s fine, I’m fine. let’s go upstairs to the library. We should preform it there.” Hope added anxiously.

They all walked to the courtyard first, where Penelope waited with two little boys. Little Liam and Luke were running around her, laughing loudly. They had no idea what was about to happen. Penelope had a basket in her hands, but its content was covered with a white blanket completely. When Hope noticed she got nauseous and felt like puking all over again. Scarlett grabbed her hand, she must’ve noticed Hope’s face turning to a disturbing color. Hope took several deep breaths and held onto Scarlett’s hand as they all walked to the library without a word, only the lively chatting and giggling of the children were audible. When they entered the library, Hope drew a circle on the ground with a big triangle in the middle of it. She instructed Scarlett to get some ingredients and the others to light the candles. Hope excused herself to get something for the spell. She walked to her room and sat on her bed to take a moment. She grabbed the little paper from her nightstand. She read the damn spell a million times, she knew it by word, but she took it anyway and placed it in her jeans pocket. She was nauseous and anxious especially after the possibility of her being pregnant. She knew she had to do this spell, she promised Josie, she won’t give up on them now, but she needed something to give her strength. So she grabbed her phone and dialed the number to the voice she needed to hear the most.

“Is everything ok with Scarlett?” Landon picked up the phone immediately.

“Yes, she is ok Lan… can I talk to you just for a minute please?” She asked nervously.

“Hope if it’s not about her can you just please leave me be! I’m trying so hard and one phone call from you can mess me up. So just please, go deal with whatever it is yourself. I can’t do this Hope!”

“Please don’t do this! I just really need to hear your voice now. I’m about to do this spell and I just found out that I might be… Landon??” She called out for him, but he hung up the phone. Hope wanted to cry. She needed him, she needed to hear his comforting words, but he wouldn’t listen. Hope closed her eyes and took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. She had to be composed for this. When she felt like she wasn’t going to cry anymore she got up and headed back to the library.

Everything was ready for the spell when Hope entered. The basket was placed on the north end of the triangle and the boys supposed to stay still at the other two ends.

“I’m not sure how long it would take. Are you sure they can handle it?” Hope asked Josie about the boys.

“They are three they can’t be still for five minutes… I’ll knock them out. I know I am the worst mother, but they are just going to sleep for a bit. It’s totally safe.” Josie explained and Hope nodded.

So Jo did just that. They placed the sleeping toddlers to the two empty ends of the triangle. Hope got in the middle then Scarlett handed her the potion Hope made earlier. She hugged her and said to be careful. Hope hugged her back for a little longer than it was necessary. She grabbed the little paper note out of her pocket and read the spell even though she knew every word. She didn’t want to screw anything up. After Hope said the spell, she drunk the potion. Moments later she blacked out completely then woke in the familiar sunny field. The two women stood beside her as she lay on the grass. Esther offered a hand smiling to help her up.

“We’ve been waiting for you” Dahlia said smirking viciously and Hope couldn’t stop feeling that she just made the biggest mistake of her life.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter is slightly disturbing... sorry for that in advance.

Hope, Esther and Dahlia walked to the cottage together. Dahlia promised Hope she will perform the exchange there. Esther looked to be happy and couldn’t stop smiling. She was all hands on with Hope and was chatting and asking Hope about all things. She was surprised but Esther was her grandmother after all, so she told her some stories of her childhood.

When they arrived at the tiny house, they sat Hope to the same small table where they sat the last time she was there. Esther served her some fresh warm cookies and hot tea.

“Have some darling, you deserve it.” Esther smiled and stroke Hope’s hair gently then sat by her.

“Can we just get to the spell? I don’t have all day to spend in your weird ghost realm.” Hope added anxiously.

“Certainly” Dahlia answered. She was quite the opposite of her sister. While Ester acted super welcoming towards Hope, Dahlia was cold and rigid. Hope looked more anxious of Dahlia’s weird mood.

“Don’t mind her darling.” Esther smiled at Hope, noticing her hesitation. “She is just preparing herself for the big spell. Once the babies are here, we both going to be so happy.”

“You’re not gonna hurt them, right?” Hope asked concerned.

“Of course not! We will do our best to make the most welcoming home for those two sweet souls. I promise I will love them with all my heart.” Esther added with her constant smile but Hope felt wrong about the whole situation.

“Why do you want them? Why would you care for two strange babies?” Hope asked curiously… she had no idea where innocent souls moved on, but she was sure it wasn’t right for them to be with her grandmother and great aunt.

“I loved to be a mother when I was alive, but I made so many mistakes. We have forever here together with my sister to make it right. There’s only the two of us here, to have two beautiful children around was our dream. We will be so happy, just the four of us… and we are family my dear. Your children would never be strangers for us.” Esther stroked Hope’s hand gently on the table while sat there speechless. It took her a while to realize something was seriously wrong.

“What do you mean my children?” Hope yelled. She didn’t really understand what she meant but suddenly all she could think about was Scarlett.

“Oh sweetheart. Calm down now.” Esther got up and tried to stroke her hair again, but Hope got up as well and pushed her away.

“You know what, I don’t care! I had enough of this bullshit.” She yelled then said the spell out loud she used to enter their realm. It didn’t do anything, she still stood in the house. Then she tried the other spell she used last time she was there. It didn’t work either. Dahlia smirked and stepped closer to Hope. Hope tried to shove her away with magic, but nothing happened.

“You can give that up now. I made sure with that spell I gave you, that you won’t have any magic here. You will stay here as long as you are needed.” Dahlia added with a smirk.

“Hell, I’m not staying here for a moment longer. You are all crazy.” Hope yelled as she started to run towards the door. She couldn’t use vampire speed either. All her magic was blocked, it seemed like. As she reached the door, she suddenly felt a strong force pulling her back. Then she saw Dahlia moving her with magic. She pulled her back then threw her into the tiny bedroom in the house. “What the hell are you doing?” Hope struggled even to say something against the force from Dahlia. Then Dahlia threw her on the bed in the room and tied Hope up magically. Hope’s arms and legs were tied with magic to the bed, she couldn’t move her limbs at all.

“Don’t worry, it will be over soon. I promise you can go home very soon.” Dahlia said then Esther entered the room too. “Are you ready sister?” Dahlia asked Esther who nodded with the constant sweet but now terrifying smile on her face.

Esther stood above Hope and placed her hand on her stomach gently then she started to cast a spell. Hope felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen then she saw her stomach started to swell.

“What the fuck is going on?” She cried out loud as her belly just grew and grew. Esther finished the spell when her stomach got enormously big. The sudden growth was painful and uncomfortable for her. She couldn’t stop crying, she didn’t understand what was happening to her.

“When you said the spell I provided you, you linked your own soul and well every other soul you carried with you to this realm. Don’t worry, I will send you back and you’ll have your magic back as soon as your soul returns to your body.” Dahlia explained vaguely.

“What do you mean?” Hope moaned in pain. “My baby, what do you want with it?” She asked furiously. It was pretty obvious now that she was indeed pregnant, but her body was back home laying on the library floor and her baby was only a few weeks old. They couldn’t hurt it. Could they?

“We will raise your babies as our own. They will be dead in your world, but they will stay perfectly happy here with us forever. You don’t need to worry about it.” Esther said smiling as she caressed Hope’s face.

“You can’t take my baby! You can’t do anything with it. It is perfectly safe in my body home.” Hope said furiously.

“As I said, your soul is not the only one travelled here. When we do the exchange for those boys, these babies…” Dahlia pointed at Hope’s belly. “will die in your body but as my sister told you, we will take good care of them here.” Dahlia added.

“No, no way! You can’t do that! Don’t do the exchange! You can’t take my baby…babies?” Hope questioned herself suddenly.

“Well it’s not up to you now. You can’t do anything about it. We will finish the spell and your babies will stay here forever.” Dahlia added. “Now, I will prepare for the spell. Esther, please prepare the babies.” Dahlia said and left the bedroom.

Hope looked at Esther pleadingly. She never felt so helpless in her life.

“Please, you don’t have to do this. You can just send me back, right? Please don’t take my baby away. You know exactly how that feels like, please grandma.” Hope cried to her.

“Oh, I know sweetheart.” Esther sat next to her on the bed as she stroked her head gently. But this is how it supposed to be. I was hesitant at first when my sister suggested we should do this, but it was a sign for us. We were so lonely just the two of us here then you just came here to visit us, asking our help… both of us felt that you didn’t came alone the last time you were here. We felt two tiny souls inside of you. It was faith that you were searching answers for those twins and you are having twins as well. It truly is a miracle.” Esther said smiling, while she still stroked her.

“If Dahlia wants someone powerful, these babies won’t be that. These are not my firstborns, they won’t be powerful witches. There won’t be anything for her to gain. Please tell her that.” Hope was begging.

“It doesn’t matter. She knows it’s not your firstborn, she didn’t feel the power of the firstborn, like she did on you or on my Freya. But I promise you it will be all better for everyone. These babies belong here with us, they will be happy here.” She continued with her nonsense and Hope saw now that she was completely crazy and there was no way she was going to convince her. She needed to get out of there on her own and as soon as possible. But then Esther placed her hand on her huge stomach again started to mumble a spell. Then Hope felt the pain shooting across her body. She felt a huge pressure on her lower abdomen which made her cry out loud.

“What? What are you doing to me?” She whined painfully.

“I’m not doing anything, you do what you suppose to do. You are having your babies darling.”

“No, no! I can’t!” She cried as another contraction hit her.

Everything happened so suddenly she couldn’t do anything now. She was in pain she was tied up and they were going to take her babies. She had to think fast but the emerging pain didn’t even let her think straight. She felt like she was losing, she was helpless, and she was alone. She thought of Scarlett and Lizzie. They tried to stop her, tried to convince her to not do this but she wouldn’t listen. She wanted to do it for Josie. But why? It’s not like her babies would die. They could become vampires but Hope was losing hers and she couldn’t do anything about it. Maybe Landon would’ve convinced her in the last second to stay away from the spell… maybe that’s what Hope needed from him but he wouldn’t listen to her. He never listened to her. It made her mad. It made her furious in between her painful cries. Why would he never listen to her? Why didn’t he understand her? She was trying her best and he always made her feel like she was the worst. She had to tell that to him, she had to stand up for herself with him.

The contractions were almost constant and she couldn’t think for herself anymore. She cried out for Esther to loosen her ties, but she wouldn’t do it. It was uncomfortable and painful. Esther got a washcloth and wiped gently across Hope’s sweaty forehead and chest, but it didn’t make her feel any better. She remembered when she was having Scarlett. It was incredibly painful as well, but Abigail at least helped her feel the most comfortable she could get in that situation. But now, tied down like an animal was much worse than ever.

Esther got down to Hope’s legs. She took the ties off her legs with her magic. Not that it mattered, Hope couldn’t think about running away anymore and her hands were still tied. She needed to get those babies out of her as soon as possible. The pressure was hard and painful on her body. Esther then ripped her jeans and underwear off with magic. As one of the most painful contractions hit her, she felt the need to push, so she did.

“That’s it, push it sweetheart.” Esther instructed as Hope felt like her insides were stretching beyond her limit. “Come on, I can see the head.” Esther continued as she held Hope’s legs apart.

After a bunch of agonizing contraction and hard pushes the baby finally slipped out of Hope. Esther cut the cord and wiped the baby then placed it of Hope’s chest.

“It’s a little boy.” Esther smiled.

“Please untie my hands, I want to hold him.” Hope cried as she looked at the tiny body squirming on her chest. He had dark curly hair just like his dad and sister had. Hope just couldn’t stop crying. “Please.” But then another painful pressure hit her, and Esther took the baby off her.

“I’m sorry but I can’t do that. You have one more to go.” She said and she placed the baby boy in a basket near the bed.

Another wave of painful contractions hit her and slowly pushed the other baby out too. After Esther cut the cord and wiped the baby off, she put the baby on Hope’s chest as well.

“This one’s a little girl. How perfect, we have both.” Esther smiled.

Hope just looked at her baby as she cried. She wanted to touch her, she wanted to hold her. The baby girl was crying loudly, much louder than the little boy. She had lighter hair than the little boy, it looked brown but perhaps it was auburn like Hope’s. She couldn’t tell since it was still wet. Esther placed the boy next to his twin on Hope’s chest while Hope sobbed as she tried to take every little detail in of her babies.

“Please let me hold them.” She bagged to her grandmother.

“I told you, you can’t! Now stop whining, I let you see them. Be grateful girl.” Esther said firmly then Dahlia entered the room.

“I heard someone crying. What do we have?” She asked with a disturbingly sweet smile.

“One boy and one girl.” Esther answered happily.

“Oh let me see them.” Dahlia walked to Hope and took one of the babies and she started to rock him.

“Don’t touch him! You are never going to take them from me!” Hope yelled and the little girl on her chest started to cry even louder. Esther rushed to her to take and calm the baby.

“Stop yelling, you scare the babies!” Esther instructed. “Are you ready Dahlia?” Esther asked her sister very excitedly.

“Of course.” She smiled.

They placed the babies in the basket next to each other. Esther magically dressed Hope back in her jeans then Dahlia dragged Hope out from the bedroom with magic, but her hands were still tied down, she couldn’t move them. There was a circle on the middle of the floor with a triangle in it. Esther placed the babies in the basket to the north end of the triangle while Dahlia pushed Hope in the middle. Hope couldn’t move from the force of magic, she couldn’t get to her babies even though they were right there next to her. Dahlia started chanting. Hope screamed at them to stop doing it she cried and yelled to let her hold her babies, to let her keep them but Dahlia just kept chanting. Hope suddenly felt light headed. She looked at her babies one last time before she blacked out completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, some of you guessed it right. Sorry for this... but it might just turn out okay in the end.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for everyone reading, commeting and leaving a kudos! I really appriciate it so much!!  
> This chapter is a little longer, hope you'll enjoy it tho.  
> Love you guys!!!

Hope woke up suddenly. She was breathing heavy and her heart was pounding like crazy. She sat up and looked around her surroundings. She was alone, in her bedroom in New Orleans and she was sitting in her own bed. Was it all a dream? A nightmare? Then she suddenly felt a sharp stomach cramp. She grabbed her covers to pull it off of herself, when she noticed the massive amount of blood covering her lower parts. She quickly ran into the bathroom to take care of herself. She changed her bloody sheets as well then crawled back into the bed and started sobbing. She knew what was happening… she was losing her barely four weeks old babies. They were dying and she couldn’t do anything about it. She didn’t do anything about it. She knew it was all real, it all happened. They took them they took her sweet little babies. She was laying there in fetal position and couldn’t stop crying. She replayed everything in her mind that happened. She had a little boy and a little girl they were perfect, they were beautiful. The little boy looked just like Landon and the girl looked perhaps like Hope. She gave birth to them she loved them and she lost them. She didn’t even name them. She didn’t know how long she was lying there sobbing alone in her room, but Lizzie entered some time later.

“You’re up!?” Lizzie yelled excited then she walked to Hope who was still crying. “Are you ok Hope?” What happened?” She asked concerned sitting on Hope's bed beside her.

Hope wanted to say something. She wanted to say what happened, that Lizzie was right, she was really pregnant. She was pregnant with twins… but she’s not anymore and her babies are dead, and those crazy witches took them from her. She wanted to tell her, but no sound came out. She just couldn’t stop crying. Hope sat up and looked into Lizzie’s eyes with her teary ones but she just sobbed.

“Hope, what the hell, please talk to me!” Lizzie said in a worried voice then pulled her in for a hug. Hope returned the hug fiercely as she cried on Lizzie’s shoulders. Lizzie held her for a while but Hope just didn’t settle. “Are you bleeding?” Lizzie asked as she held her. Her vampire senses could obviously tell. Hope just nodded against Lizzie’s shoulder but didn’t say a thing. She held her like that until Hope started to quiet down. Lizzie let her go slowly and caressed her red and teary face. “Please talk to me Hope.” She said in a sweet voice.

“Th…th…ey died… babies.” She sobbed. Her speech was barely understandable.

“What baby? Who died?” Lizzie asked confused then Hope placed one of her hand on her belly.

“Oh god, Hope no… shit… you lost it?” Hope nodded as she was crying. “That’s why you’re bleeding…” Lizzie said sadly as she stroked Hope’s arm softly. Hope nodded again. “I’m so sorry Hope!” Lizzie hugged her again. “I’m so sorry…” she kept saying as she stroked her back.

“Hope?” Hope heard her daughter’s voice. She let go of Lizzie and saw Scarlett peeking in the room. “Can I come in?” Scarlett asked and Hope nodded. Scarlett sat on the bed next to her. “What happened? You look awful! Are you okay?” She asked her mother. Hope caressed her daughter’s face and kissed her forehead.

“I love you so much.” Hope managed to say her first whole sentence. Finally it seemed like actual words were leaving her mouth.

“I love you too! What’s going on? Tell me that you are okay.” Scarlett replied with worry.

“I’m gonna leave you two to talk while I grab you something to eat and a fresh bag of blood. ok?” Hope nodded and Lizzie left the room. Hope took a deep breath. She didn’t know what to say to Scarlett. She wanted to be honest with her but everything happened was so disturbing that Hope didn’t want to scare her too much and she wasn’t sure if she could talk about it just yet without completely braking down.

“Please say something, I was so worried. You were out like for two days. I was so scared I’m going to lose you too!” Scarlett said as a tear drop left her eye. “ You should’ve never done this stupid spell.”

“I know. I’m sorry, I should’ve listened to you and Lizzie.” Hope cried.

“What happened?”

“I was pregnant… but I am not anymore.” She cried.

“Oh no,you lost the baby? No!” Hope saw another tear drop in her eyes and she hugged Hope.

“I’m sorry… they tricked me. They didn’t want to do anything with the dead babies we brought here. They wanted mine from the beginning.” Hope said as she hugged her daughter.

“What?” Scarlett let her go and looked into Hope’s eyes. “They just took your baby? I knew there was something up, even you knew! Why did you even do this?” Scarlett cried.

“I’m sorry baby.” Hope caressed her face as she cried as well. Scarlett was mad. She really wanted their little family to work. “I had twins. First a little boy then a little girl.” Scarlett looked at her confused. “The little boy was so calm, he wouldn’t make a noise. He had hair like you and your dad. The little girl was feisty. She would not stop crying.” Hope started sobbing.

“Twins? You… you had them? They were just fetuses.” Scarlett said confused.

“Their bodies were fetuses… and I just lost them here, they died… they… they grew them with magic… their soul I guess but it felt real. They took them, I couldn’t do anything about it.”

“So they have them? Those evil bitches have my siblings?” Scarlett asked her eagerly and Hope nodded. “Then we are getting them back. Right?”

“I don’t see how. Their physical bodies are dead.” Hope said heartbroken.

“We will figure it out. We are two powerful witches Hope and I’m going to help whatever it takes.” Hope admired her determination. Maybe she was right, Hope shouldn’t just let it go, but she didn’t want to be disappointed either.

“Okay.” Hope agreed.

“Okay!” Scarlett smiled. “We are going to get them back, you’ll see.” Hope couldn’t stop but to smile at her daughter’s optimism.

“You didn’t tell anyone about the… well the possible pregnancy did you?” Hope asked her. She didn’t want anyone, especially Josie to feel sorry for her about what happened.

“No, and Lizzie kept her mouth shut for sure… we weren’t even sure yet.” Scarlett added sadly.

“Good. Thanks. Let’s keep it that way. What about the merge? At least it worked?”

“Yeah, it worked. They all felt the curse lifting and they took the dead babies back to the hospital… even though they didn’t do anything I suppose.” Hope just shook her head. “By the way you should definitely tell Landon. He would help with research about getting the babies back, I’m sure.”

“I don’t know… He didn’t even know. If it doesn’t work at least he’ll never have to find out he lost two babies too. Besides I don’t even know if he would care.” Hope shrugged sadly.

“You’re kidding right? First of all, you can’t hide another pregnancy from him. Even if it ended… and secondly you know he would care. He cares about me and didn’t even know me for fifteen years. He would care about his babies Hope!” Scarlett said firmly.

“For him it was just a few weeks old pregnancy… in most cases fetuses die naturally in the first few weeks. it’s heartbreaking sure, but not a big deal. He might just think that it supposed to happen this way.”

“Why are you thinking about stupid things like that? If you are not going to tell him, I will. And he will help us find a way, I know!” She said determined.

“Ok. I’ll try to talk to him and I hope you are right.” Hope answered. And she hoped… last time Landon blew her off when she really needed him so she was scared to call him again.

Meanwhile Lizzie entered the room with Josie and a bunch of food and blood and tea. When Hope saw Josie her stomach suddenly jerked to a knot. Jo’s twins lived but Hope’s died. She was mad at her and Penelope. They pushed Hope into this.

“Hope, it’s so good to see you up finally. I wanted to thank you what you did! You have no idea how happy I am. If you ever need anything, you know you can always count on me!” Josie said with gratitude.

“I need you to leave my room!” Hope said bitterly. Lizzie looked at her questioning but Josie left the room with confusion.

“Hope, what’s going on?” Lizzie asked but Scarlett interrupted quickly.

“Hope’s right. She and Penelope are not welcomed here. They made Hope do that insane spell and look how it ended. I don’t want her here either.” Scarlett said quickly defending Hope.

“Are you really blaming her?” Lizzie asked Hope who just shrugged. “Okay, it’s okay. Here just drink some blood, you need it!” Lizzie handed her a bloodbag. “But you know Jo doesn’t even know you were pregnant. She will feel awful about it once she finds out.”

“Good, she should feel awful!” Scarlett added.

“No, please don’t tell her. I am mad at her, I am jealous that her twins get to live but my twins died before their first heartbeat. But I don’t want her to feel bad about what happened. Just don’t tell her please.” Hope pleaded.

“Wait, you were pregnant with twins? How do you know?” Lizzie asked with surprise.

Then Hope told her what happened… she told her with details how she had to give birth then how they took her babies. Hope didn’t really want Scarlett to hear the details but that point she almost told her everything. Lizzie was heartbroken for Hope what she had to go through. Scarlett told her about her plan to get her siblings back and Lizzie was eager to help. They both looked so determined about it. Hope wanted her babies back more than anything. She wished she could be determined like them. She wished she’d had any good idea how to get them back, but she was blank. Her head was still spinning with the horrifying images of Esther and Dahlia. She was barely able to concentrate on talking with the girls.

Hope drunk that blood bag but she couldn’t keep anything else down. She was still exhausted about everything she went through so Scarlett and Lizzie let her go back to sleep. She awoke often with nightmares. Usually she saw the sweet little faces of her babies and when she was about to hold them in her arms for the first time, she felt their cold lifeless bodies. She couldn’t sleep more than an hour at a time. These nightmares jerked her up screaming every now and then.

She woke screaming for maybe the sixth or seventh time. It was the middle of the night now and she found Scarlett next to her in her bed. Scarlett snuggled her when she awoke.

“At least we have nightmares together.” Scarlett said it half asleep. Hope embraced her and kissed her head. That’s how they fell asleep. It was an eventful night, Hope woke several more times with the nightmares but at least she could hold her very much alive baby in her arm when she woke up.

Hope was a mess the next couple of days, she didn’t really want to leave her bed or her room. All she wanted to do is sleep, so that’s what she did. Scarlett already started a research with Lizzie. They went to the witches of New Orleans for help, they knew a lot about afterlife. They were in constant communication with their ancestors so they might have some insight of the afterlife where Esther and Dahlia were. Scarlett told everything to Hope. Where did they go and what they found. Scarlett was determined and hopeful and it alone gave Hope faith.

“You haven’t told Landon yet.” Scarlett said after she explained Hope what she and Lizzie found out that day.

“No, I haven’t” Hope whined as she threw herself on her bed.

“I told him that he can expect a call from you… didn’t tell anything else yet.”

“What? You told him that?” Hope asked surprised.

“I’m sorry. Is that a problem?” Scarlett asked alarmed.

“No, no. It’s not. Don’t worry. But that’s all you said? He didn’t ask why?”

“Nope… but I made him promise he will listen to you… I know he has a problem with that when he is angry.”

After Scarlett left Hope’s room she grabbed her phone. She was so nervous to talk to him but she dialed anyway.

“Hope” He answered the phone.

“Hi Lan.” She missed him saying her name. She just missed him.

“Scarlett told me you want to talk… look I’m doing this for her whatever this is about.” Hope felt it in his voice that the last thing he wanted was to talk to her. She couldn’t do this on the phone.

“Landon, please don’t be like this. Something really… umm… shitty happened and… and I need to talk to you. In person. I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t important.”

“Please just tell me what you need. I’m listening. I promised Scarlett I would… but please don’t make me see you Hope.” Hope took a deep breath… she didn’t even know how to start.

“Fine, I’ll try. But please be patient with me and don’t hang up on me.”

“ I won’t Hope, I’m listening.” He said but his voice was rather impatient.

“Okay… umm... you know I did the spell for Jo’s twins. I tried to call you before but… umm…”

“I’m sorry about that Hope but you promised you would only call if it involved our daughter… and Josie said the spell worked. I knew you could do it Hope!”

“It was a mistake Landon. I’m so messed up since it happened.” Hope said trying hard to hold back crying on the phone.

“How can you say that? You saved their lives. I know dark magic can be hard on a witch but I’m sure you’ll be fine in no time, you are the most powerful witch in the world. You did something good!” He tried to encourage Hope.

“I called you before the spell because I was really hesitant. That morning I though… I thought that I might be pregnant Lan.” Hope herd him gasp. “I just wanted to tell you… I needed to hear you before.” She let out a quiet sob.

“Hope, what’s going on? Are you pregnant?” He asked anxiously.

“No.” She cried and heard Landon taking a relieved breath.

“God Hope! You scared me.” He said relieved. “Can you even get pregnant? We never used anything.”

“I did… I made like a magical potion for birth control and I used it for years… but I stopped using it after I told you about Scarlett. You didn’t want me, and I didn’t want anyone else so I just stopped… so the last time we were together… I… I got pregnant.” Hope cried softly.

“What? You said you are not. I don’t understand you Hope.” He replied all confused.

“Well I’m not anymore.” Hope let out a sob. Landon didn’t answer for a while. It was silent, only Hope’s deep breathing could be heard as she tried to prevent herself from breaking completely.

“Hope” He said her name as softly as possible. “Do you need me to go over? We can talk about it in person.”

“Yeah” She said faintly.

After they hung up the phone Hope laid back to her bed. Landon would come to see her soon. She thought about getting ready, at least getting dressed but she didn’t have the strength. She barely left her bed in the past couple days since she woke up after the spell. She looked awful. She wore a long baggy stretched out shirt which was comfortable to sleep in. Her hair was a mess, she didn’t brush it in days. She wanted to look better for Landon, but she just wouldn’t move. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Hope woke to warm big hands caressing her head. She stirred and turned to where the soft touches were coming from. She opened her eyes and saw him standing there by her bed.

“Scarlett told me you were in here… I knocked but you weren’t answering.” Landon said as she pulled back her hand and stopped touching Hope’s hair and head. Hope pouted at the loss then she sat up and patted on the bed next to where she was sitting for Landon to sit, so he did. “Are you okay?” He asked and Hope shook her head. Hope couldn’t help herself, but to lean in to place her head on his chest. She hugged him and held on to him tight while she listened to the familiar sound of his heart beating. She felt him reciprocating the hug and Hope breathed him in deeply. She needed this more than anything. “Tell me want happened.” Landon said softly and Hope slowly let go of him. She looked into his beautiful green eyes.

“When I searched for a solution for the merge I didn’t find anything then I had the idea to ask my grandmother who was a powerful witch... a dead witch. But I knew I could reach her wherever she was so I tried. I found her with my great aunt Dahlia in this weird afterlife where only the two of them existed. When I asked them about the merge they had an insanely sick idea to help… I told Jo and she and Pen wanted to pursue with the spell Dahlia suggested. I was hesitant but agreed. The idea was that I would link their sons and another pair of twins who were already deceased to the world where Esther and Dahlia were and they would exchange the life force of the two pair and the dead one’s soul would stay with them in the afterlife.” Hope had to take several deep breaths to concentrate.

“That is insane… Jo didn’t tell me they would involve other babies.” He said it in disbelief.

“I know… that’s why I didn’t want to do it. But they found a prematurely born pair and I agreed to do it with them. But that was the morning I was questioning if I was pregnant or not. It was really early anyway, there wasn’t any heartbeat yet. So I went ahead with the spell and I was planning to deal with whatever if I was pregnant or not afterwards.” She looked away from his eyes to his hands laying on the bed. She wanted to hold them so badly, she needed his touch. So she went for it and put one of her hand on his. He didn’t move it.

“Did you lose it because of the spell?” He asked and she nodded then glanced back in his eyes.

“My grandma Esther and Dahlia deceived me. They didn’t care of those babies… They sensed I was pregnant the first time I was there. They wanted mine… ours.” She started feeling the burning in her eyes. “I couldn’t use any magic there, I couldn’t do anything. They tied me up to this bed like an animal, I couldn’t move. Then she magically grew my babies and she made me give birth there. Landon it was horrible.” She let her tears fall and Landon took her hand which was in top of his and stroked it gently.

“God Hope. I’m so sorry you had to go thru this.” He said as his other hand reached her face and wiped her tears. “You said babies?” He asked and Hope nodded again.

“I had twins. A little boy and a little girl. The boy looked just like you.” She broke down. “They didn’t let me hold them, I couldn’t even touch them.” She sobbed. “They took my babies Landon, they took our babies.” She cried hard.

“Shit!” He grabbed her by her shoulder and waist and pulled her close to his own body to embrace her. “I’m really sorry Hope.” His voice trembled but he wouldn’t let go of her.

“When I woke up here there was nothing to do… I was losing them, they just died.” She said shivering against his chest.

Landon didn’t say anything just held her and stroked her back gently. After a while he moved himself to back the headboard of the bed so he could hold her more comfortably against his chest. They set there in each other’s embrace in silence for hours. Slowly Hope fell asleep in his arms.

Hope woke up in the morning, not once during the night. She had a soundless sleep without any nightmares. When Hope opened her eyes first that morning, she found Landon laying next to her in her bed sleeping. She wondered when he finally let himself to fall asleep. She loved watching him like that. She missed him like that in her bed. Hope remembered all those sleepy mornings when she woke him with a kiss. She longed for his lips to touch hers, but she couldn’t. They were not together like that anymore. So she just stared at his perfect lips, his beautiful face and his soft hair without a touch. After a while Landon opened his eyes looking right into Hope’s staring blues.

“Morning” Hope said as she gazed into he’s green-gray eyes.

“Good morning” He greeted her with a little smile still laying there beside her. “I’ll get you some breakfast.” He said as he rose from the bed.

“Landon, could you check on Scarlett first? She slept here with me for the past few days… maybe she didn’t want to bother. Just see if she’s ok please.” Hope asked him as he was leaving her room.

“Sure.” He nodded and smiled at her.

Hope had the actual strength to get out of her bed and get ready for the day. She took a long, hot shower then grabbed some clothes from her closet. Just black leggings and a warm comfy sweater. She was sitting in front of her vanity brushing her wet hair when Landon and Scarlett entered the room.

“We made breakfast.” Landon said with a tray in his hands which he placed on Hope’s nightstand.

“Thanks, but you didn’t have to.” Hope smiled at them.

“Got you some blood too.” Scarlett added as she gave Hope a bag which she appreciated. She didn’t really eat any real food in the past days but she needed the blood. “I told Landon what we’ve been doing with Lizzie. I will meet her later today too.” Scarlett added with a smile while Hope opened the bloodbag.

“Is it really possible?” Landon asked. “To bring them back somehow?”

“I don’t know… They are physically dead here so… I hope so. I really hope so. I don’t think I can live with myself knowing their sweet souls are stuck with my crazy grandma and great aunt… At least I hope we can help them move on to wherever they are supposed to be.” Hope added sadly.

“No, we are going to get them back! I just know it!” Scarlett said positively.

“I hope you are right. There’s a huge supernatural library in the Salvatore school. Maybe we could find something there.” Landon added.

“Lizzie already called her parents and they are on it. I think we have a good lead but we’ll only tell you if it turns out to be totally safe.“ Scarlett said all excited. She was determined to get her siblings back. Hope really wanted it to be true and she wanted to help but she felt like a weight or something holding her back to anything at all. She didn’t even want to leave her bedroom.

“I can do some research too. And if you need anything else just let me know.” Landon added.

“Sure.” Scarlett smiled. “Lizzie just texted so I need to go.”

“Take care baby.” Hope said and Scarlett hugged her. “Love you” Hope said as they hugged.

“Love you too.” Scarlett replied then she let her go and left the room.

“She’s such a good kid.” Landon added with a smile.

“Yeah, she is. I just hope she won’t be disappointed at the end of this. And full moon is approaching soon, she needs to be ready for that as well.”

“I know. She will rock it, I’m sure. I know you will be there when she turns but do you think she’d be okay if I’m there too? I just want to support her.” Landon asked Hope uncertain.

“I think she’d appreciate it. If you can handle seeing her in agonizing pain… but I can certainly ask her if she’d be comfortable with you around if you don’t want to ask.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to ask. I don’t know how honest she’d be with me… she was almost agreed to come with me to Mystic Falls when she clearly wanted to stay here just because she didn’t want me to feel bad. And seeing you two just now… you are so comfortable with each other. You know what I mean…” Landon mumbled with the tiniest hint of jealousy in his voice which made Hope smile just a little.

“Sure Landon, I’ll ask her.” She smiled.

“I appreciate that Hope.” He smiled back. “And she’ll do great with the turn and with this research as well, I know. And she has you as a mother Hope. I’m sure this will be possible and we’ll get our babies back.” Landon tried to comfort her.

“Yeah, perhaps it is possible… I want to help her Lan, it’s not like I don’t care. It’s just really hard… it’s so hard to do anything and doing a spell like this again terrifies me. What if I lose Scarlett too?” Hope was fighting back her tears. There it was… it lasted about an hour since she woke up but there it was again. The constant worry, the constant fear, the terrifying thoughts.

“Hope, listen to me! Nothing bad will happen especially not to Scarlett. She is going to stay here with you. You hear me?” Landon walked to her and cupped her face. “And it’s okay to feel like you do. You went through something horrible Hope. No one expects you to do anything. You heard our girl, she and Lizzie will handle this and they won’t do anything that’s not safe. I trust Lizzie with that.” Landon said in the most soft and caring tone. Hope nodded slightly as he held her face. She shed a drop of tear which Landon wiped softly with his hand. She closed her eyes for a moment to truly appreciate and feel his touch against her skin. She loved the feeling but hated that Landon only touched her when she was broken.

“Thanks Landon.” She opened her eyes and he let her go. “You always know what to say to make me feel better.” She smiled with tears in her eyes and he smiled back. “And you also know how to make me feel worse about myself too.” Hope chuckled. But Landon didn’t look amused he just had a serious look on his face.

“I never wanted to hurt you, Hope… I know me trying to move on hurts you. It hurts me too believe me.” He said it genuinely.

“If it hurts you don’t move on Lan. We were good together, we love each other.” Hope was hopeful. Landon just inhaled loudly then exhaled it slowly while he walked away from Hope who was still sitting in a chair by the vanity and walked to Hope’s bed to sit down.

“You know why Hope.” He said and looked at her. “I don’t think we should talk about it now… I don’t want you to feel worse. I do care about you!” He said calmly. Hope took a moment to think. It was silent in the room. Landon was right that she wasn’t in the best place and talking about that would make her feel worse… but Landon was there and he was listening.

“Can I tell you my story? I’m not expecting anything from you and I know what I did was wrong. I just want to tell you how I lived it through as a 17-18 year old girl.” She asked afraid that his going to shut her down again. Landon just stared at her. Hope knew he didn’t want to hear it and Hope felt slightly bad that she was taking advantage of the current situation, but she wanted to talk to him since she told him about Scarlett at the first time. He just never let her since.

“Go on, Hope.” He said kinda irritated that he couldn’t get out of the situation.

“I hope you at least understand that I was seventeen and wasn’t the best judge of life back then.” She said but he just gave her an annoyed look so Hope just stared at her hands in her lap as she continued. “When I jumped into Malivore I thought I was going to die. I was prepared to join my family, but Malivore threw me out so I ran back to you, to Mystic Falls. You already know how I found you… and it broke my heart that you all forgot about me. So I left and I was never going to look back. Two months later I found out I was pregnant. I had literally no one around. No one cared about me, no one loved me, no one remembered me. I panicked. I was terrified of my future… of the baby’s future. I had my first panic attack then. Abigail was there, a strange woman took it upon herself to help me out. I honestly don’t know where I or Scarlett would be without her. The pregnancy was difficult. I don’t remember much… only the constant panic and anxiety. The nightmares about you, every time I tried to tell you in my dreams you didn’t recognize me and didn’t believe me. When I woke up I knew it would be the reality so I panicked… every time I thought about you. Abigail was literally force fed me to get some nutrition for Scarlett. As Scarlett was growing I got worse. I was terrified of being a mother. Sure, I was eighteen by the time she was born, an adult on paper but I was not ready for any of it. She was born earlier than supposed to and she was tiny. Like scary tiny. I knew I screwed her up even when she was inside of me… I was sure I just going to ruin her more. Then I thought about me and my whole family. I was alone and unhappy. Every single person in my family had a difficult and mostly unhappy life. I didn’t want that to Scarlett, I didn’t want her to be a Mikaelson… I just didn’t want her to be like me, so I begged Abigail to take her in, so she did. The last fifteen years I thought about her every day… and Abigail wouldn’t shut up about her. I knew everything really.” Hope chuckled sadly. “But I only started to open towards her when she started to be interested. When I got to know her I just wanted more and more. I knew I made a mistake… and you Landon” She looked up at him again who was staring at her with serious look. She couldn’t read anything on his expression. “Well, I moved on. I had to. You didn’t remember me… moving on meant that I shut down. I lived here alone, not letting anyone close to my personal space. No one knew me and I didn’t know anyone… I didn’t want to care about anyone. I had my sad life routine. Drink, paint, drink read, drink, fuck. That’s how my days went by. I thought I liked it that way but the moment I saw you again I knew how much I missed you, how much I missed being loved, how much I missed caring about others. You and Scarlett changed me and I never want to go back Landon. I never want to be alone anymore.” Hope finished and she was amazed that she didn’t cry at all. Landon was still and quiet. It was getting uncomfortably quiet. Hope wanted to say something but she was done speaking. It was Landon’s turn. But he wouldn’t say anything, he wouldn’t even move, he had no expressions at all. So Hope stood up and walked to him to sit by him on the bed. Hope reached for his arm which was by her side to touch him. She squeezed it softly but Landon just stared at the empty space in front of him.

“Landon?” She asked quietly.

“I just need to think Hope.” He replied still not looking at her way. Hope leaned towards him and laid her head on his shoulder. He didn’t react, he didn’t object, he didn’t move and didn’t say anything. Hope had no idea what to think. They sat there in silence like that for a long while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are very close to the end. I hope you can see the light in the end of the tunnel.


	29. Chapter 29

About an hour later, they still sat there like that. Landon in silence staring at nothing while Hope leaned on him. Hope let him think, she didn’t want to bother him and she didn’t want to lose his closeness so she was silent and motionless lost in her own thoughts, mostly about Landon. She was sure he won’t forgive her ever and he’ll never even try to understand her. He would’ve said something… she would’ve seen it in his eyes, but there was nothing. She didn’t allow herself to cry about Landon anymore so she didn’t. She knew she’ll never love anyone else ever and she couldn’t possibly move on, but she told him everything she wanted so she had to let him go, truly let him go this time. No last kiss, no last sex. It had to be final. Then why can’t she just move away from him and let him go right now? As she was thinking, Landon moved. He stretched and stood up. Hope just stared at him.

Landon just grabbed the tray on the bedside table with the untouched food on it and took it away in silence. Hope was sure, that was it. He didn’t want anything to do with her. He just left her alone without a word. She laid down on her bed trying her hardest not to shed another tear but as time went by and she laid there alone she couldn’t hold it anymore and broke all over again. He doesn’t deserve another drop of tear so shut up! She scolded herself. Then she thought of her lost babies and let herself cry. Couple hours passed since Landon left her alone in her room. She wanted to fall asleep again but she couldn’t. She didn’t do anything else in the past few days and she just couldn’t sleep anymore. She just laid there quietly crying to herself.

Two hours later Landon entered the room with another trey with fresh food and tea on it.

“You should really eat something.” He said in a soft voice.

“I’m perfectly fine without food.” She mumbled against her pillow. She didn’t want to talk to him, she was mad at him.

“I know you are, but I also know you have more energy and you feel much better when you have some in your system, so please.” Then Landon grabbed a plate with a sandwich on it and held it up to Hope’s way. She sat up and took the plate like an obedient child and took a bite of the food. She actually missed the taste and ate the whole thing in minutes. “You were hungry I see.” He smiled then gave her the cup of tea. Hope saw the hesitation on him but he finally took a seat next to her. Hope sipped on the tea. She wished she knew what he was thinking. Hope knew he was only nice to her because of her recent trauma. He only came back to her room because of it. He wouldn’t stick around otherwise and he clearly didn’t care about her story.

“I’m sorry I left like that.” He said with regret looking deep into her eyes.

“Why did you leave?” She placed the cup on her nightstand, then before he could reply she continued. “You have no idea how I feel even now, after I told you I don’t ever want to be alone again. Especially after what happened. Do you know how alone and helpless I was while I was struggling to give birth to your babies?” She yelled and hit his arm in frustration. “You don’t care about me. You don’t give a crap about me!” She cried again. “You hurt me constantly and I can’t… I just can’t... You know, you should just leave now. You don’t need to stay here because you feel sorry for me. I don’t need your pity. Just go and fucking move on!” She yelled sobbing.

“Hope please! I care, I do care about you a lot. I’m sorry I left, I really am. Please stop crying.” He said and grabbed Hope’s hand to hold but she pulled it away from him. “Hope, I’m sorry, I don’t want to hurt you, I never wanted to hurt you. I needed to think everything over. I should’ve said something and not leave you like that. I’m such an idiot Hope.”

“So what…what were you thinking about?” She asked still sobbing.

“I told you once I could never be happy with you… well the truth is I could never be happy without you… and I don’t know what to do.” He said desperately.

“Do what you think is right… what your heart think is right.” She said as her sobs turned into silent tears.

“My heart… my heart loves you. I love you Hope Mikaelson. I don’t think I could ever stop loving you.” He said it honestly but Hope saw doubt in his eyes.

“But you can’t forgive me.” Hope said sadly.

“I… I want to try. What you went through with Scarlett… I understand it wasn’t easy, I really do.” Landon said with love in his eyes and Hope took a relived breath.

“So you really care… about what I told you earlier?” She asked eagerly.

“Hope, I’m sorry I didn’t hear you out earlier.” He caressed her face gently. She let him touch her this time. “I’m sorry you had to go through everything alone, I understand your fear of loneliness better than ever. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel bad about yourself or your past. I do care Hope. I care about you and your feelings. I’m sorry I hurt you before.” He said kissing her forehead gently, then he pressed his own forehead to hers lightly. “I want to forgive you Hope because I can’t live without you.” He said it as Hope cried happy tears this time. Landon then kissed her forehead then both of her red and teary cheeks and lastly he gave a soft and quick peck on her lips.

“So, Do you? Do you forgive me?” She asked desperately.

“I still don’t agree with what you did. I get that you were depressed and I am truly sorry I couldn’t be there supporting you thru. But you had fifteen years to tell me after that and those two months when we were together you kept lying to me. It’s just not easy to trust you, and it’s really important for me to be able to trust the people around me. Especially the person I’m in love with. I can’t live with doubts and distrust in my relationship. Maybe it’s because I’m still looking for my home, since I was a young kid. Once I found you again, I was so sure my home was with you. But I wasn’t so certain after your lies. It was like my home and dreams breaking all over again… and what I always did after a break like that is move on and find where I truly belong. I think that’s why it was so important for me to move on… but I know you and I know you are not a bad person. You are amazing with Scarlett, our children are lucky to have you as their mother. So, I do. I do forgive you because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want you to be my home and I am yours. I was stupid to think that I could live without you Hope. I forgive you with one condition.” Hope looked at him questioning with her teary eyes. “If you forgive me too. For being a jerk to you, for not listening to you, for accusing you of stupid things about Scarlett when you clearly are amazing with her… for leaving you that night like that when we had sex. You deserve better than that… I don’t even know why you haven’t given up on me yet. I’m really sorry for all of it.” Landon said as he was tearing up. Hope let a quiet sob out.

“I love you so much Landon Kirby, of course I forgive you.” She cried. “I promise you I won’t ever lie to you and you promise me you won’t hurt me again.”

“I promise.” He said and he captured her lips for a sweet kiss.

They kissed lovingly for a while. It never deepened too much, they just enjoyed loving each other and the sweet sensation their tongues and lips created together. They broke away to the sound of Hope’s bedroom door opening. It was Scarlett, she just stood at the doorway stunned then a huge smile appeared on her face.

“I’m sorry, I wanted to knock… I really didn’t expect this.” She said with a grin.

“Umm, it’s fine sweetheart. Come on in. Do you need something?” Hope said blushing. Landon looked away from Scarlett blushing as well. He tried to suck his lips in to hide the redness and swelling. He looked adorable.

“I just wanted to ask if… umm… do you have that spell you used the first time when you connected with the evil witches?” She asked nervously.

“Sure, but… don’t use that please. It’s dark magic and it’s just a way to connect with deceased family members who are witches. It’s not like I could grab my babies and take them back here.” Hope said concerned. She really hoped Scarlett didn’t have any ideas of trying something stupid. She really needed to talk to Lizzie to make sure Scarlett was safe.

“Oh no, don’t worry I won’t. We might have an idea but we are still trying to piece it together. If we ever need to use this spell, you’ll be the first to know.” She said calmly.

“What is your plan exactly?” Landon asked and Hope was curious too.

“I will tell you when we are sure it could work.”

“Please just be careful, and don’t do any spells before consulting me. Ok?” Hope said firmly.

“I wouldn’t. I will tell you I promise if we have a solution.” She tried to be comforting and it worked. “Now I’ll just get out and you two can continue whatever you were doing.” She giggled and left the room closing the door behind herself.

“She totally saw us kiss.” Landon said embarrassed.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ve seen her in worse position with Oliver.” Hope smirked.

“What?” Landon said with horror on his face.

“Oh god, I’m sorry. Nothing like that… they were making out really passionately once…”

“Please stop, I can’t listen to that.”

Hope just laughed at him. She was laughing, she was happy despite what happened to her in the past days. Then she felt guilty. She just lost her babies and she was happy.

“ What’s wrong Hope?” Landon asked lovingly and he gave a slight squeeze to her thigh.

“I feel… happy.” Hope said with guilt. “I just lost my babies Lan.”

“Hope.” He caressed her face softly with his knuckle. “Don’t feel guilty because you are happy, it doesn’t mean you don’t miss our babies anymore. Besides we will going to get them back. We will be a big happy family in no time, you’ll see.” Landon softly packed her lips.

“Everything is so much better with you around.” Hope smiled and kissed him once more.

The next week passed quickly. Hope felt much better, she actually left her room to paint sometimes. Landon didn’t leave the compound, he didn’t leave Hope’s side. He wanted to make sure she was doing all right. He practically moved in, he slept in Hope’s bed every night, tho they didn’t actually sleep together like that. They both wanted to take their relationship slow. They both hurt each other a lot before, and they had to work through many things, and they were working on it step by step. 

Hope mostly slept with Scarlett. Since the full moon was approaching, her nightmares became worse. They hoped it will pass after her first turn. She was really anxious about the turn but she was happy both of her parents were supporting her. She wanted both to be there with her when it happens. Hope promised she would turn with her and since she wasn’t pregnant anymore she could do it. Scarlett was also thrilled that her parents were together and they were working on their relationship. She couldn’t be happier about them. She took it upon herself to make their family whole and to bring back her siblings. She wouldn’t slow down about the research with Lizzie. Perhaps it was distracting her from the very rapidly approaching full moon as well.

On the day of the full moon she barely slept. Hope was holding her through the night but Scarlett had constant nightmares. They both woke up pretty tired.

“I’m sorry I didn’t let you sleep.” Scarlett apologized.

“Sweetie, you have nothing to be sorry for. It is a big day, it is okay to be scared.” Hope comforted her with a peck on her forehead as she held her.

“I’m afraid of the pain. What if I can’t handle it?” She asked cuddling her mom tightly.

“Wolves are born for this. You can handle it, don’t worry. And I will be with you with every step on the way. Your dad will be there too sweetheart. We love you so much.” She said lovingly but she could still hear Scarlett’s rapid, anxious heartbeat. “ And after the pain is over, and you are running through the woods under the full moon with no pain or trouble, just freedom. There is no greater feeling in the world.” Hope said softly as she held her daughter. 

They prepared themselves for the day. All three of them ate breakfast together, they made Scarlett eat a lot to be strong for the events at night. Then their little family headed to the Bayou for the full moon celebration.

It was the first time Hope left her home since she lost her babies. She wasn’t sure she could handle the people but she had to do it for Scarlett. She missed so much, she wouldn’t miss another important day of her life.

When they arrived, Scarlett quickly found a couple of the other wolf kids she knew and she ran off with them talking. Landon found Raf and Brook who seemed to be way too close with each other while Hope talked a few words with the George, the alpha. He was thrilled that their hunter dilemma was solved, although she didn’t mention it was actually Scarlett who killed the girl. Scarlett could tell whomever she wanted but it wasn’t Hope’s place to tell. Other people were luckily afraid to come up to talk to Hope. She got so tired from talking George, she felt so off around people. She just longed for her bed really but she would make it through for Scarlett. It was getting dark and Hope was sitting at a table alone exhausted. She felt someone squeezing her shoulders, then she felt a kiss on the top of her head. She just smiled.

“Are you doing okay?” Landon asked Hope as he sat beside her.

“Yeah, it’s just a little much after everything… but nothing I couldn’t handle. Scarlett will have a much harder night than I am.” She gave Landon a tired smile.

“Are you going to turn with her too?”

“Yes, of course. I won’t leave her side.”

“Isn’t it going to be too much for you? I mean it still hurts. Isn’t it?” Landon asked concerned.

“I’m a tribrid, I can handle anything.” She smiled. “It hurts but gets better with every turn… don’t worry Lan.”

“Okay, if you say so.” He said giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

“Hey lovebirds.” Scarlett sat by them laughing.

“I see you are in a better mood.” Hope smiled at her.

“I don’t know… being here is just reminds me of my mom, it’s like I can feel her around and the weird thing is that I’m not sad about it.” She said it with a genuine smile. “I think she can see me and she is happy for me that I have a family.”

“Sweetie I’m sure she is so proud of you today.” Hope hugged her girl tight.

The time came when the wolves moved to the forest to turn. Scarlett, Hope and Landon moved to an empty patch in the middle of the forest where no others came. The moon was shining high on the sky lighting the tiny clearing where they settled. The first crack happened in her ankle. She looked scared as the first wave of pain hit her. Landon comforted her while Hope talked her thru the pain. She told her everything she could do to help her make the transition as fast as possible. Soon Scarlett’s clothes were in pieces on the ground and a beautiful white wolf stood in front of Hope and Landon. Landon was determined to wait for the girls after they were done running so Hope spelled Landon to be hidden from any wandering werewolves around. Hope quickly discarded her clothes and turned as well. The two white wolves were off running without a care in the world. Hope loved the run, when she could turn off any problems of the real world and only focus on her senses, and the hunt. But it was different with Scarlett by her side. She had to keep her focus on her, she didn’t want to leave her side for one moment. She enjoyed their run together nevertheless. After a while Hope led Scarlett back to where Landon was waiting for them. Hope turned herself back first then gestured Landon to turn away so Scarlett could turn back as well. They brought some extra clothes with them, so they got dressed quickly.

“How are you doing?” Landon asked them both.

“Amazing” Scarlett smiled. “It was amazing, I mean the pain was awful but the feeling came after is just indescribable.” She said happily.

“I’m glad you liked it.” Hope smiled tiredly.

“I’m really proud of you Scarlett, you handled it so well.” Landon said proudly. “And you? How are you?” He looked at Hope.

“I’m ok Landon, just tired. I needed this too.” She smiled and took Landon’s and Scarlett’s hand on each side as they walked back to the car. “Maybe we could do this together from now on.” Hope said squeezing lightly Scarlett’s hand.

“I’d love that! Thanks mom!”


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, so last minute change. I cut off the very end of this chapter what I originally planned, which was kind of the epilogue and I will stretch it out in possibly one or maybe in two more chapters.  
> Hope you'll like it this way.  
> Love ya all!!  
> Oh and happy Halloween to everyone reading!!! And happy birthday to our queen Danielle Rose Russell! I could never imagine anyone else as Hope Mikaelson but her!

About two weeks has passed since the full moon. Fortunately Scarlett’s nightmares died down after her turn as Hope expected. Hope fell asleep and woke up in Landon’s arms every day since then. They were still not intimate but actually Hope didn’t mind taking it slow with him. Just knowing that he loved her and he was close to her was enough at the moment. Hope was still not ready for that step after everything happened with the twins, but she felt much better and she started to be truly hopeful about getting back their babies.

When Scarlett and Lizzie were completely confident about their plan they shared it with Hope and Landon. Hope’s first reaction was a slight heart attack. They found four different spells which they had to combine somehow to work. Also, Scarlett was needed for a big part which Hope was absolutely not okay for her to do. But after she thought it all through… if everything went according to the plan, it could work… really work. But it could go terribly wrong as well. She was hesitant but Scarlett promised her she’d be careful and even Landon comforted her. He believed in Scarlett and everyone involved with these spells. Eventually she agreed that this was their best solution. In the last week, before they preformed the spell, Hope, Lizzie and Scarlett was relentlessly worked on the four spells, and planning everything out.

So, the plan was to destroy Esther’s and Dahlia’s world and in the process taking the twins and leaving the women to be destroyed forever. Scarlett and Lizzie actually got a necromancy spell from the witches of New Orleans which gave them the possibility to get the deceased back into their original body. The problem was, the babies didn’t really have a body, or anything physical left of them, like bones or such. They managed to get another spell involving the parents Hope and Landon to revive the babies. They only needed Hope and Landon’s blood and the babies’ bodies should form as soon as they reach this world again. The third spell they got is to destroy Esther and Dahlia forever and no one could get access to them anymore. Not Hope, not Scarlett and not any of their descendants in the future.

The fourth spell was the original, what Hope used in the first place to get in contact with them. They needed to get in there again to Esther and Dahlia’s world. With that first spell Hope did have magic there, and they needed magic for the spells to work. Hope had to get in there again to actually get her babies and once she was connected with them she would chant the necromancy spell. But someone needed to chant the same spell at the same time in their world as well. Lizzie happily agreed to do it.

They were determined to destroy the evil bitches and someone needed to chant that spell as well inside and outside of their realm. First Hope said she would go back and destroy them after she got the babies, even tho she dreaded to go back there even just once… but they would already expect her and probably block her magic or even do something much worst to her. So no one agreed to that plan. The worst part was only Esther and Dahlia’s blood relatives could get in contact with them which were Hope and Scarlett. Since Hope was doing the necromancy spell, it needed to be Scarlett. She had to go as well. They both needed to go inside their weird after life to take the babies back and destroy them for good.

They needed one more witch to chant with Scarlett. Hope dreaded to tell what happened to Josie but Lizzie was determined that she should be the fourth witch to help. Hope asked Lizzie to talk to Jo because she was sure Josie would feel awful guilty about the whole thing and Hope didn’t really want to handle that. Hope didn’t blame Josie, not anymore at least but she was afraid if she’d get into it she would show some resentment towards Jo. Hope didn’t want that to either of them. Josie was a good person and she would never let Hope do anything if she knew Hope was pregnant. So Lizzie agreed to talk to her and ask her help for their plan.

They had everything ready for the plan. They agreed on a day. It was a Monday. Lizzie and Josie were supposed to arrive by 10 in the morning to perform the spells. It was still early morning and Hope laid in her bed while Landon holding her in his embrace.

“What if it doesn’t work? What if something terrible happens again?” Hope wondered with worry.

“I have hope that everything will work out just fine. You really should have more hope too.” He chuckled then kissed her forehead as he held her.

“Not funny. Stop with the name puns.” She turned on her stomach and faced Landon in the bed with a serious look. “I’m really worried. If something happens to Scarlett Lan… I can’t… I don’t think I could take it.”

“She is smart and prepared. She’ll stay at her spot. She’ll do the spell and that’s it. Nothing will happen to her. In fact, when you come back, we’ll have three beautiful children.” He smiled softly and caressed her face.

“Yeah, ok. It will work Landon, I have hope. I can’t wait to see my babies again.” She smiled and Landon captured her lips for a kiss. She returned it gently, then Landon broke away and Hope heard his heart skipped a beat. “What now? Are you nervous too? You just comforted me, you can’t do this, you need to stay confided.” Hope stated firmly before Landon could say anything at all.

“No Hope, I am confident. It will work and Scarlett will be safe I am sure.” He caressed her cheeks softly with a smile, but Hope still heard his anxious heartbeats.

“Then what? Talk to me!”

“Okay… I was just wondering Hope… about the babies. I really want them back and I really want this to work. But you know… they shouldn’t be able to die at all. They are my babies, phoenixes. Why do you think they just passed? It worries me a little…” He said anxiously but tried not to work up Hope too much.

“Oh… well I don’t think anyone would survive without their soul so I don’t think it really mattered if they were phoenixes, vampires or whatever… Their soul was snatched…” Hope gulped. It was still hard for her to think of the horrors how they were taken. 

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense…” but Hope still sensed his anxiousness. She looked at him questioning. “It’s about the merge. You said it was exchanged. That our twins took it off Jo’s and Pen’s boys. Will they have the curse?” Landon asked with worry. Hope thought about this too but honestly didn’t concern her much. She caressed Landon’s shaggy face

“We’ll resurrect them. I hope they’ll leave all that stuff in that afterlife and it will be destroyed with everything else… but honestly, there’s no way of knowing, and it’s a pretty stubborn curse, not so easy to get rid of. But let’s hope okay?” She said confident but Landon didn’t take it so well so it was on her to comfort him now. “Landon, they will be phoenixes as vampires anyway. They won’t die, ever again… we just need to get them back.”

“You are right. I’m sorry I brought this up today. We should be positive about this whole thing.” Landon smiled at her.

They had breakfast with Scarlett later that morning. She was so confident in herself and it really calmed Hope. Nothing could go wrong now. Nothing will go wrong! Hope told herself that a million times. As Landon said, later that day they will have three beautiful children. After breakfast they went to prepare everything. Hope mixed up the potions for herself and Scarlett for crossing, then they headed to the library. They drew the magical circle, lit the candles and burned some herbs to prepare for the spells. Soon Josie and Lizzie arrived

“Hope!” Josie called for her as soon as she entered the room. Hope looked at her. “I am so sorry, I had no idea. Hope, I never should’ve agreed to do that spell. I’m really sorry.” She looked devastated and hugged Hope passionately.

“Josie, it’s fine. What’s done is done. Let’s just get through this one okay? If we are lucky we can all forget any of that happened.” She smiled tho she could never forget the horrors she had to go through, but didn’t want Josie to feel any more guilty.

Lizzie brought some ingredients as well. She was going to perform the spell to prepare for the babies arrival. Two ingredients were missing for this spell and it was Landon’s and Hope’s blood. Lizzie mixed up the potion in a small cauldron with the missing two ingredients. Both Hope and Josie held her hand to give her strength. They stood around the cauldron as Lizzie started to chant. When she finished all the potion were gone and the pot was empty. Nothing else happened, but Lizzie was sure she did the spell correctly. She said it will be fine when the babies are there. And Hope believed her.

Next was Scarlett and Hope’s turn to go. Landon walked to Hope first. He hugged her tightly.

“I love you Hope, I know you can do this but please be careful. Okay?” He whispered into her ears then kissed her softly. Hope could hear his heart beating really fast. He was worried but tried to compose himself for his girls. Hope placed her hand on his rapid heart after she broke the kiss.

“I will be I promise. I love you too.” That’s all she said with a confident smile. She was relieved he couldn’t hear her heart beating crazy of anxiety.

Then he walked to his daughter. “Scarlett, you are so strong and smart, I know you can do this. I can’t tell you enough how proud I am of you. We would never be here getting back your baby sister and brother without your help. I love you, so much!” They hugged for a while then he let go of her.

“I love you too.” She smiled, and with that Landon hugged her once more. It was the first time she said it back to Landon and it made Hope smile as well.

It was time! Hope and Scarlett got in the middle of the circle holding each other’s hands. Hope gave a potion to Scarlett. They looked at each other’s eyes.

“We can do this.” Hope smiled at her a little anxious.

“We can do this.” Scarlett smiled back with confidence.

With that, they both started to say the spell out loud. When the finished, they drunk the potion then they blacked out.

“Wow” Scarlett said when they woke up on the field.

“I know. Just what we talked about. Okay? Stay here, no one can know you are here too. Make the circle, I’ll be back with the babies in no time. Understood?” Hope instructed firmly.

“Sure, mom don’t worry, I’ll be here! Just be safe!”

Hope smiled and nodded and with that she was off running towards to cottage. When she got there Dahlia greeted her in the door.

“I don’t have time for this!” Hope frowned and threw Dahlia forcefully back in the house with magic before she could react. Dahlia was unconscious as she hit her head. Hope wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. 

Esther walked out of the bedroom with a baby in her arms.

“What is this disturbance?” She asked clearly wanted to ask her sister then she saw Hope standing there next to Dahlia’s unconscious body. Esther quickly backed into the room again and Hope followed. Esther stood next to the other baby who was lying on the bed sleeping. The same bed she gave birth on.

“Give me back my babies!” She yelled.

“Why did you come back?” Esther said angrily as she tightened her hold on the baby in her arms.

“Let her go!” Hope screamed, recognizing it was her little girl she was holding. She could see bright auburn hair on her head.

“Be quiet girl! You are scaring my babies.” Esther said as she hushed the crying baby in her hands. The baby boy was still sleeping soundly.

“Your babies??” She kept screaming. “They are mine!”

“Well then you wouldn’t do anything to hurt them, would you?” Esther said as she held baby girl in her arms tightly in front of her as a shield.

“No, but you… I will destroy you crazy bitch with your evil sister. Now, one last time. Let her go!”

“That’s not the way you should speak to your grandmother, child. You cannot kill us, we are already dead.” She laughed.

Hope was furious and she was running out of time. She had to act quickly. She didn’t want to think about it too much, just did it in seconds. With a quick spell she broke Esther’s neck then quickly chanting another one to catch the baby and move her into Hope’s arms. Hope didn’t have any time to register the feeling of holding her baby in her arms for the first time. She had to move fast. She quickly took the sleeping boy in her arms too. He stirred and woke as Hope moved him but didn’t make a sound and the crying baby girl became content immediately in Hope’s arms. She hold them tight against her chest as she headed out of the cabin.

As she was trying to leave, Dahlia gained consciousness. She froze Hope with a spell before she could leave the house.

“Not so fast!” She said with an evil smirk and walked towards Hope and the babies. “Oh how cute they are in your arms.” She said with mockery as she reached them. She caressed the baby boys face slightly with her evil smile.

“Don’t touch him!” Hope yelled angrily but couldn’t move at all.

Then Dahlia reached for the baby to take it from Hope… but before she could do it she was thrown back forcefully and she caught on fire immediately. The flames were hitting the roof of the house, and Hope unfroze immediately. She noticed Scarlett by the door.

“You were supposed to wait for me on the field!” Hope tried to yell at her but she smiled.

“Yeah, well I thought you might need some help.” She smirked.

“You and fires… maybe you should talk to Jose about it.” She said smiling.

“Huh?” She didn’t really get it. “Let’s just go. We need to be at the field, at the exact spot where we entered for it to work.” Scarlett added

“Right, we need to hurry. They won’t stay down for long… the dead can’t really die.”

They ran to the field as fast as they could, Hope holding the two tiny babies in her arms. Scarlett already mad the circle from sticks and stones she found around the field. They quickly got in the middle.

“So these are my baby siblings?” Scarlett asked peeking at the cute little faces.

“Yeah” Hope said lovingly. “We will need names when we get home.” She smiled.

Then they both started to chant. Hope chanted a spell to take the babies’ spirits back home and Scarlett chanted the spell to destroy that world. They knew Lizzie and Josie did the same at home. In the distance they saw Dahlia and Esther running towards them but they also saw their world falling apart and becoming blackness nothing. Before the two women could reach them, Scarlett and Hope blacked out.

They woke up in the middle of the circle inside the library. Landon, Lizzie and Josie were surrounding them. Scarlett looked at Hope then her face told it all. She was disappointed and on the verge of crying. Then Hope registered what was the problem, what was missing. Her babies. They weren’t there anymore, they weren’t in Hope’s arms anymore.

“I don’t… I don’t understand. Did we do something wrong?” Scarlett cried.

“I held them… I just held them in my arms. Why are they not here? We did everything right.” Hope cried too.

Landon kneeled down beside Hope and Scarlett and hugged them both.

“It’s okay. We did everything, you did everything you could.” He tried to comfort them, then stood up and helped Hope and Scarlett up as well. “I’m so sorry baby.” She kissed Hope’s forehead, who just sobbed.

“No, No! It can’t be! We destroyed it. We destroyed them all. My babies.” Hope cried hard and so did Scarlett. Landon tried to look strong for them but he was tearing up as well.

“Be quiet!” Lizzie firmly stated. Landon looked at him harshly. “No, everyone shut up! Hope, listen!”

“What… what is it Lizzie?” She said choking on her own tears.

“Just listen!” She said softly while she smiled.

So everyone settled in silence, they didn’t make a sound. No one knew what they supposed to listen to. Except Hope… she heard it. She heard them. Two tiny but strong heartbeats. Hope cried again but these were happy tears.

“What’s going on?” Landon asked. He, Scarlett and Josie all looked confused.

“The babies. They are here Lan. Scarlett, we did it, they are here.” She smiled and cried at the same time. They still didn’t get it because there were definitely no babies around. Then Hope took Landon’s hand and placed it gently on her own stomach. “They are here.”

“Seriously?” Landon asked in disbelief. Hope nodded, and Landon hugged her. Scarlett joined to the hug, embracing them both.

It turned out that the babies returned to where they supposed to be at the exact state. The pregnancy was just between the eighth and ninth week just how it supposed to be by then. Their little hearts were definitely developed, and it was beating rapidly. Every single spell worked and Hope still couldn’t believe it. She was the happiest she’s ever been.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One more to go, 32 will be the end.  
> Hope you'll like this one. Love ya all!!!

The night after they got their babies back safely, Hope just couldn’t contain herself and couldn’t keep her hands off Landon. He happily complied. They made love all night and it was beautiful and perfect. The next morning they woke in each other’s embrace. They didn’t sleep much but they didn’t mind at all. Both of them were happy and excited about Hope’s pregnancy.

“I love you.” Landon woke her with a kiss to her forehead as he held her tight against his own naked body.

“I love you too.” She said sleepily stroking his chest as she held him.

That’s how they woke up that morning and that’s how they were planning to wake up every single day for the rest of their immortal lives.

It was a couple months later and Hope already had a little baby bump. Landon loved the sight of a pregnant Hope. He treated her as a queen she was. But he was strangely distant for a couple of days or so, and Hope started to worry. Landon took a job in a local public school. Not that they needed the money, but Landon loved his job and Hope was happy if he was happy, and Hope had her job too. She wasn’t going to leave the city, and the supernatural community needed her, and she was determined to keep the peace in New Orleans. So Hope, wasn’t mad about Landon’s job, but the last few days he came home late at night and rarely picked up Hope’s calls during the day. She started to question herself, maybe Landon hated seeing her growing bigger. On the third day when she called and he didn’t pick up just texted her that he’ll see her later that day, Hope was determined to confront him. She was getting really pissed.

Hope called Lizzie on the verge of crying to tell her Landon’s unsettling behavior. Lizzie decided to go over and calm Hope in person. A while ago Lizzie and MG decided to move to New Orleans. MG’s music business went well in LA, but he could manage it from NOLA as well and to be honest the people around him kept questioning his age since he was there for years and looked to be a teenager so they decided it was better to work unseen. Hope was thrilled to have her best friend around.

“I don’t know what’s going on. It started a couple days ago. Maybe he’s disgusted of my fatass body.” Hope cried to Lizzie, as they sat in Hope’s living room.

“Nonsense, Hope! You look gorgeous, and he clearly loves you. He’d love you in any form and shape. Don’t ever talk about yourself like that again. Okay?” Lizzie stated firmly.

“Then I don’t get it. I will yell his head off when he comes home tonight for sure.” Hope folded her arms with anger.

“Okay Hope, calm down. How about we go out tonight? Girls night?” She suggested with a smirk.

“I don’t know Liz… it’s not like I can drink…” Hope shrugged.

“Oh, come on. You can drink blood. And imagine Landon’s face when you won’t be home tonight…” Lizzie tried to convince her.

“Fine. I need a distraction anyway.” Hope said giving in and Lizzie had the biggest smile on her face.

Lizzie stayed at Hope’s until the evening. They cooked dinner together, even Scarlett helped, then the three of them had dinner. Later Lizzie picked out Hope’s clothing for the night. She picked a very tight and somewhat revealing black dress for her.

“No way! I’m not trying to hook up with anyone.” Hope firmly stated as she saw the dress in Lizzie’s hand.

“Come on, try it on.” She bagged.

“No! I’m pregnant Lizzie! That thing is too tight.”

“It will stretch around your curves Hope. You’ll look gorgeous in this. Just try it on with these.” She handed her some jewelry and a pair of black high heels. Hope gave in with an eye roll and tried on the dress.

“I feel hideous.” Hope said as she was adjusting the dress on herself.

“Just look into the mirror.” Lizzie said with a smile. Hope looked. She didn’t say anything, tried not to give any credit to Lizzie but the dress didn’t look hideous on her. She gave herself a satisfied look in the mirror. “I told you.” Lizzie giggled and Hope rolled just rolled her eyes. They did their make up and hair then they headed to town.

They only walked a block, when Lizzie stopped in front of Rousseau’s. Hope looked at her questioning.

“I just remembered that I left my favorite bracelet in here a few nights ago.” Lizzie pouted as she gestured towards the bar. It was dark inside. It was really weird since it was a Friday night, usually the bar was open around that time.

“I don’t think they are open.” Hope shrugged.

“Yeah… damn it. I really liked that bracelet.” She sounded genuinely sad. “Amm… do you think you can go in and check if they have it in there?” Lizzie asked her.

“Why don’t you go and see?”

“It’s closed, it’s dark… people know you here, they won’t assume you are breaking in. I don’t want to be shot with a wooden stake mistaken for some criminal.” Lizzie explained.

“Fine, I’ll check it out if it’s that important for you. So what am I exactly looking for?”

Lizzie explained Hope how her bracelet looked like, then Hope opened the locked doors with magic and entered the dark and empty bar while Lizzie waited for her outside. She was headed to the light switch, when she picked up on a heartbeat from inside and immediately after the familiar scent. When she wanted to say something, a candle had been lit at Hope’s favorite table, where she sat so many times in her lonesome and where she had many sweet dates with Landon. Hope’s lips curved to a smile as the candle light illuminated his face.

“Landon, what are you doing here?” Hope asked in a suspicious voice but she couldn’t stop smiling.

“Please sit down my love.” He pulled out a chair for her. Hope walked there and sat down at the table. Landon kissed her cheek lovingly before he left her side of the table.

“What’s going on? Are we having a romantic dinner in Rousseau’s?” Hope giggled. “Because Lizzie stuffed me before we left. Oh… I forgot about Lizzie, I should tell…” Then Hope didn’t even finish the sentence because it was obvious she sent Hope in here for a reason and it wasn’t a lost bracelet.

“She already left, don’t worry.” Landon smiled. “Not exactly a dinner.” Then Landon disappeared to the kitchen area for a brief moment. Light Jazz music started to play in the background, some of Hope’s favorite local musicians. Then he returned with a tray in his hand with two huge glasses on it. Hope looked curiously at him in the dim light.

“One peanut butter blast, whipped cream on the bottom. Just how you like it.” Landon placed one of the milkshakes in front of her. Hope laughed out loud.

“Thanks Landon.” She answered shyly with a dreamy look, she always gave him as a teenager. Now Landon laughed. “Now sit down you dork.” So he did and had sipped on his own milkshake. “I thought you hated peanut butter.”

“I got kinda used to it over the years... it’s not that bad.” He shrugged.

“It’s actually delicious. Did you make it?” Hope asked with a smile.

“Yeah “ He chuckled kinda nervously, then Hope picked up his anxious heartbeat and it made her nervous.

“Is something wrong Lan? Is it about why you acting weird it the last couple of days? What is it? Why are you so distant with me all the sudden?” She asked but didn’t yell as she originally planned. Landon did set the mood. He probably gonna tell her some troubling news… well, it was about time. They’ve been happy for months now, Hope should’ve known something would come. Hope suddenly felt sad. Her hormones probably didn’t help but she was on the verge of crying.

“I’m not distant with you. I am spending time with you right now. Hope, don’t cry everything is okay.” He noticed her sad look immediately and tried to comfort her. “I’m sorry I got home late the last couple of nights. I tried to arrange this thing with you here for tonight with the owner… it turned out he is a very scary vampire and he didn’t believe me when I told him I was with you, so I had to get Raf involved… it was a whole thing, but everything is fine. I’m sorry if you felt that I was distant, I’m sorry I just wanted to surprise you.” Landon sounded really guilty about it.

“Oh…” That’s all she said as they stared at each other. “But why? Why the surprise?” She asked faintly.

“You probably don’t remember, but it was the best day of my life. Nineteen years ago today you walked into Mystic Grill and I served you your first peanut butter blast with whipped cream on the bottom. You were the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I knew from the first moment I saw you that you are special. God, I fell for those gorgeous blue eyes right then…” He sighed nervously.

“Landon you are so sweet, I’m sorry I overreacted… Just blame it on the pregnancy hormones.” She chuckled.

“I have something else to say…” He sounded really anxious and his heart went on crazy. Hope just hoped he won’t have a heart attack or something so she reached out and placed her hand on his on the table to calm him, before he went on. “I know we haven’t had the easiest 19 years but one thing I am sure of. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up with you in my arms every single day from now on. I want you to know that you will never be lonely, I will be with you… Always and forever.” He said nervously with tears in his eyes, and his words made Hope tearing up as well. Then Landon pulled his hand away and stood up from the table. Hope was confused for a second, then Landon kneeled beside her. Hope turned to him and started to cry lightly.

“I love you Hope Mikaelson. I will always love you. And I’d love to call you my wife… if that’s something you want… if not, I’m happy with you anyway.” He mumbled anxiously.

“Just ask it you idiot!” Hope said it with teary eyes while Landon pulled a little box out of his pocket and opened it. It was a gorgeous but still simple and clean diamond ring.

“Will you marry me Hope?” He asked her simply but with slightly more confidence. 

“I love you Landon.” She sobbed. “Of course I will marry you.” Landon put the ring on her finger. Still holding her hand, Hope stood up, pulling Landon up from the ground. She let his hands go to hold his cheeks from each side. She pulled him close to herself to kiss him fiercely. He pulled her as close to his body by her waist and back as her little bump allowed and kissed her back with passion. They made out in the bar for a while before they decided to walk home and continue their night in their bedroom.

The wedding came fast. They both wanted to be married before the babies would come and Hope didn’t want to deal with the wedding in her third trimester. Josie warned her that with a twin pregnancy every second will be exhausting and uncomfortable as she grows bigger. So they arranged everything in a month. Lizzie helped with the planning a lot, it was kind of her thing and she was the maid of honor after all. Rafael was Landon’s best man. Raf actually got together with Brook and the two hybrids were inseparable. It looked like Raf never been happier, they really clicked. He even talked about a possible wedding in the future

The wedding was huge. All the supernatural of New Orleans were invited. It was in the Bayou, at the big and beautiful clearing where the wolves usually held their full moon celebrations. Hope was a little worried of her being very obviously pregnant. She knew the witches didn’t like if nature was out of balance and her pregnancy was sort of a miracle. By the time the wedding came, it was clear knowledge that Scarlett was Hope’s first born. Scarlett even took both the Mikaelson and Kirby name as well. She also had Abigail’s name too, so her full name was a mouthful, but she didn’t really mind. Hope was worried that with her name Scarlett could possibly gain enemies, so they trained her magic and Hope asked the hybrids to train her physically as well. Luckily the city didn’t see Scarlett and the babies as threats. Since Hope opened up more recently due to Landon’s and Scarlett’s influence, the city trusted her more and instead of fear they had more respect for her. They trusted Hope and Landon with their miracle babies, even the witches stayed calm about it.

The wedding was beautiful, Lizzie went above and beyond with the planning and everything turned out to be perfect. Josie and Penelope came to the wedding with their boys, even Alaric and Caroline was there. Hope was thrilled to see them both. Hope was beautiful and Landon loved the sight of her in her wedding dress with her five month pregnant belly. Hope loved Landon in his suit, He was really handsome. It was a wonderful day that they could celebrate their love for each other with their friends and basically with the whole city.

One night when Hope was about six months pregnant, she knocked on Scarlett’s door. They just talked about everything as usual.

“You know that these babies can thank their lives for you. If it weren’t for you, I don’t think they’d be here with us right now.” Hope said patting her swollen belly.

“Oh, they will owe me a lot then, I’m planning on making them my personal servants.” She laughed and so did Hope. “But honestly, you would’ve done the same without me as well.” She smiled looking at her mom. Hope stared at her seriously and Scarlett gave her a questioning look.

“You know… Your dad and I was thinking… We thought you should name one of them.” Hope smiled.

“Really?” Scarlett asked excited. “I don’t even know.” She sighed.

“You can think about it, we still have time.”

“No, I think I know. I think I’d like to name the girl if that’s okay.” Scarlett asked shyly.

“That’s even better, I have something in mind for the boy but not for our little girl.” She giggled.

“Do you think her name could be Abbie?” Scarlett asked quietly looking into Hope’s eyes.

“I think that’s perfect.” Hope hugged and kissed her daughter’s forehead.

“We have a name for our little girl.” Hope said joining Landon in their bed.

“You asked her?” Landon asked while he softly kissed her cheek and patted her belly as she settled next to him.

“She wants to name her after her mother. Abbie is kinda cute.” She smiled as she settled as close to him as possible so he could hold her.

“Yeah, I like it.” He smiled. “Hi little Abbie” Landon got down to her belly and kissed the side where the little girl was.

“Come back here and hold me!” Hope demanded.

“Are you jealous?” He chuckled and got back to Hope so he could hold her. “Now we only need a name for our son.”

“About that…” Hope said a little anxiously. “I know I should let you name him since I already named Scarlett… but I kinda have a name that I’d really like our son to have.”

“Yeah? I don’t have anything… maybe Obi-Wan but I’m pretty sur you wouldn’t go for it.” He laughed.

“Oh God! Our son is not going to be named after Star Wars characters or any superheroes.” She laughed as well. “I’m not sure tho if you’d like the idea because I know how you feel about my dad… but I think Nik would be a cute name.”

“Hope, I also know how you feel about your dad and I think our boy will be lucky to have his name.” He let Hope go again and kissed her passionately on her mouth. Then he crawled down at her belly to kiss it again. Hope whined. “Hi there little Nik.” He said and Hope kept whining impatiently at his loss. “I could go back and cuddle you or maybe I can make myself useful down here, Hope.” He settled in between her legs then kissed her belly once more then he kept kissing her and every kiss travelled a little more south.

“Yeah, sure… make yourself useful Lan.” She said then he kissed her right where she needed the most and a light moan escaped her lips…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to finish the next chapter this week.  
> We will have the babies + I have something planned for Lizzie and then the end.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who followed along with my first story. Every kudos and comment encouraged me to continue writing. I think I will continue with other Handon stories, I do have some ideas.  
> I love you all!! 💗💗💗
> 
> Update: I just made a handon account on twitter. Go follow. 😊😉  
> @handon915

Hope was miserable in the last few weeks of her pregnancy. The babies were huge, and it was a little much for Hope’s small frame. It was like the babies were purposefully jumping on her insides. Everything hurt and was uncomfortable, she could barely sleep anymore. She was annoyed and irritated all the time. Landon and Scarlett were walking on eggshells around her. Literally everything upset her. Everyone was very inpatient for the babies’ arrival. Hope considered every day to do a spell or a potion or something to speed up the process but she discarded the thought immediately when she reminded herself what her grandmother did to her last time… so she waited patiently every day for the pregnancy to take it’s natural course. Well, mostly impatiently, but she made it thru. It also helped, that she talked to Josie almost every day to complain and she patiently listened to her and understood what she was going through. Jo and Pen moved back to Mystic Falls months ago with their boys, but with the twin pregnancy and all they became really good friends again. Hope didn’t have any more resentment towards her or Penelope, tho Hope and Pen never really became besties, but they mutually respected each other for Josie mostly.

The babies came right on time. One night, Hope woke up to having regular contractions. She really hoped it was the end of the pregnancy, but she waited to wake up Landon until she was totally sure she was in labor. When she got out of her bed to go to the bathroom, as soon as she stood up, her water broke. Yep, she was sure now, after the water broke her contractions became stronger. When she came back from the bathroom, she sat next to Landon on their bed and woke him with gentle strokes to his hair. He stirred and smiled to her soft touches. She smiled back to a half asleep Landon.

“Hey, Lan.” She whispered as she was stroking his curls.

“Hey, what’s up.” He said sleepily, starting to open his eyes as he yawned.

“Hey, babe. You need to wake up.” She still whispered quietly not to disturb him too much as he was still somewhat out of it.

“Is it the babies?” He asked immediately as he realized it was still in the middle of the night.

“Yeah, I’m in labor Landon.” She smiled at him calmly. Well her calm approach didn’t work. Landon jerked up from the bed immediately.

“Oh my god!” He yelled and his heart was beating crazy. He started to run around in the room, finding random pieces of clothing to get dressed. “What are we gonna do now?” He walked up and down in the room before he glanced at Hope who was still sat on their bed, staring at him calmly. “Oh god! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”He rushed back to sit by her side.

“Landon, I’m fine. Calm down. Okay? Everything is going to be okay.” Hope comforted him and gave him a soft pack on his lips. “Now, I’ll call Sadie, you call Lizzie. She said she wanted to be here.” Hope instructed Landon. Sadie was a midwife, so Hope asked the witch to help her thru the delivery.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry Hope, I should be comforting you. I’m sorry.” He said with guilt but he was still extremely anxious.

“It’s okay, you will be. It will hurt like hell and you will be here holding my hand thru this. Okay? Just try to calm down babe.” She kissed him again, with a little more force now.

Soon both Lizzie and Sadie arrived. Sadie examined Hope, and everything seemed to be in order. She let them know that it will take some to be in active labor, tho she offered to speed things up a bit with magic, but Hope immediately declined. So they waited… Sadie checked on Hope every now and then. The contractions gotten stronger and closer to each other every time, but she wasn’t quite there yet. It was morning soon enough and Scarlett woke up. She was a little mad that no one woke her, but the fact that nothing really happened relaxed her.

Hope was sitting in their bed, Landon sat next to her to hold her. She leaned on him while Lizzie and Scarlett kept her company. Hope didn’t complain much, but after a while the pain was getting worse. She lost their conversation with the girls and just leaned on Landon in silence while he stroked and massaged her lower back. It did help her some with the pain. When Sadie checked on her, she said she was very close to pushing. Hope felt it soon enough and started to push. Landon held her hand all the while and comforted her while she was giving birth to their babies. Hope screamed and yelled at him some curse words and that she will never have sex with him ever again, but Landon just kept comforting her. With a final painful push finally little Nik was born.

Sadie asked Landon if he wanted to cut the cord. He kissed his wife before he let her go to cut the cord. Nik didn’t cry at all, Landon was so nervous, he asked Sadie if he is okay. What he heard was that babies usually cry when they are born. Sadie told her that the baby boy is perfectly fine. After Landon cut the cord and Sadie cleaned Nik slightly off, she placed the baby in Hope’s arms.

Hope couldn’t stop crying as she stared the boy’s sweet face. She held him, she stroked his little cheeks with her fingers. He was real and alive and healthy. She kissed his tiny forehead and took his scent in. Hope looked up at Landon who was staring at them with teary eyes.

“I told you he looks like you.” Hope chuckled while crying. “You wanna hold him?” She asked and Landon already reached for the baby. He took him carefully from Hope.

“Hi there Nik, I am your daddy. It’s so nice to finally meet you! I love you so much buddy.” He said tearing up and Hope just sobbed looking at her boys. Hope could feel the need to push again.

“Landon?” She asked and he looked at her questioning. “Please hold my hand again.” She asked him as her facial expression filled with pain again. Lizzie rushed to take baby Nik off Landon’s arms. She and Scarlett held him and took hundreds of photos of him while Hope gave birth to Abbie. Landon held her hand and kissed her temple comforting her, assuring her what a great job she was doing as she pushed Abbie out. As soon as she was out and Landon cut the cord, she was screaming bloody murder. But when Hope held her close to her heart, she stared to settle down. Hope stroked her tiny head and kissed her gently. “It’s okay baby girl, your momma’s here.”

Scarlett walked to her with Nik in her arms. She sat next to Hope and gave her back the baby boy so she could hold both of her babies. Landon sat on the other side of Hope, taking in the sight of his perfect little family. Hope was the happiest right then, surrounded by her three beautiful children and her loving husband. Lizzie didn’t miss the chance to take a few pictures of this perfect moment.

When Landon held Abbie for the first time, it was love at first sight. Hope sighed with a giggle that she’s going to be a daddy’s girl. And she wasn’t wrong. Time went by and the babies grew fast. Little Abbie at only six month old could manipulate her daddy to hold her all the time. If it wasn’t for her liking she would scream until his daddy came to her rescue. Landon totally spoiled them both.

Hope had her hands full with the twins, sometimes she had a hard time with them. It really wasn’t easy raising twins. Fortunately, Josie was always a phone call away and she always managed to calm Hope when she was at a breaking point and give her valuable advice. Landon was a wonderful dad and he did take his part with the babies but still as a mother sometimes she felt like a failure, but Landon made sure she was the best mom and she was doing a great job. Scarlett was a sweetheart and helped a lot around the babies, tho Hope and Landon never expected her to do so. She just loved her baby siblings and happily took over sometimes, even offered to babysit for some nights so Hope and Landon can go out and relax. Even the hybrids would help out, they were around the compound a lot to train with Scarlett and Hope, so there was always someone to hold the babies. And there was Lizzie. Hope was so grateful for her best friend. When Landon was at work and Scarlett at school, Lizzie would come over to keep Hope company and help out with the twins. Lizzie loved the babies and they loved Lizzie, she was so good with them. Hope sometimes felt a little sad that she could never experience motherhood herself. Hope always thought she’d be a great mom. But she never mentioned it to Lizzie. Lizzie told her several times that she made peace with it and she never complained or made jealous remarks to Hope about the subject.

One night, after an exhausting day, Hope and Landon did their cute little night routine with their 7 months old twins. Hope just finished nursing Abbie when Landon got Nik dressed in his pajamas, then they changed babies. While Hope was nursing Nik, Landon rocked little Abbie to sleep. Nik usually fell asleep on Hope. After they were done, they kissed the babies good night and left nursery. They said their good night and kisses to their eldest daughter as well then they fell exhaustedly in their bed. When they finally had their only alone time of the day, Hope’s phone was ringing.

“No! Not now…” Landon complained while Hope gave him an apologetic look and answered the phone.

“I’m sorry babe, but I have to go into town.” Hope said after finishing her phone call.

“Is everything okay?” Landon asked worried while Hope was dressing.

“Yeah, don’t worry… one of ours called from the police, there’s a crime scene and a wolf is involved.” Hope shrugged, she didn’t know much more.

“Can they just call George? I’m sure he can handle wolf business.”

“Landon, they asked me… I’ll call George too but I just need to check out what’s going on.” Hope got fully dressed then leaned above Landon and kissed him passionately. “I will make it up to you.” She smirked.

“You better” He kissed him once more before she left.

Hope got to the location. George arrived about the same time as Hope, she called him immediately when she left. They were in the middle of the city, the house they were at belonged to a werewolf, who laid deceased on the floor of his home. Hope could easily enter the home. It meant the owner was dead.

“What happened?” Hope asked the policeman who called her. He was a witch, one of their people.

“The wolf killed his wife then ended his own life.” He said, then Hope walked to the bedroom where she found the dead woman on the floor. But what disturbed her the most, she saw an empty crib next to the bed.

“They had a baby? What happened?” Hope asked anxiously. She really hoped she didn’t walk into that kind of massacre when a parent goes crazy and kills everyone in sight. The mother in her couldn’t handle that.

“The baby is with my partner, she’s fine.” The policeman added gesturing toward a policewoman outside holding a bundle of blankets, Hope didn’t see the baby in the distance, but she heard the rapid baby heartbeat so she relaxed immediately.

“I knew him.” George interrupted. “This might be my fault.” He said it with worry. “He married this human years ago, and left the werewolves. He never came to the Bayou, never even turned that I know of… he came to see me about two months ago. Well he came to see Abigail, he didn’t even know what happened in the Bayou recently. He told me that the baby wasn’t his and she was evil. He told me the baby was draining him, hurting him and he couldn’t even hold her. His wife told him he was crazy… I thought he might be. He deliberately held himself back from turning. Wolves easily go crazy and extremely violent if they don’t transition, especially for years like him.” George shook his head. “I should’ve helped him, now an innocent woman is dead, and their baby is an orphan.”

“But he wasn’t wrong… I held that baby, she is not normal. I don’t think she’s a wolf at all.” The policeman replied. “That’s why I called you.” He looked at Hope. “Just take a look at her.” The policeman gestured his partner, who walked to them with the baby. Hope looked at the baby in the officer’s arms. She was cute, huge chocolate brown eyes. She couldn’t be more than two months old.

“May I hold her?” Hope asked and the officer handed her the baby. Hope had no idea why anyone would call a sweet baby like her evil. Hope smiled and talked to her, then placed her finger in the baby’s tiny hand. She grabbed it immediately and that’s when Hope felt it. She knew exactly what the baby was and Hope just smiled at her cute face. “The mother was a human? Are you sure she wasn’t a witch?” Hope asked the police officer.

“If she wasn’t human, the witches would’ve noticed it. She was travelling constantly due to her job, she was in and out of the city. Would’ve caught her if she was a witch.” He explained.

“The baby is a witch.” Hope stated. “Maybe our wolf here wasn’t the father after all and if she travelled so much, she might met a very rare kind of witch and got her pregnant…” Hope wondered.

“What kind of witch is she?” The officer asked and the George looked curiously too.

“A siphoner.” She said simply as she smiled at the baby in her arms. The officer’s face fell and didn’t say anything. “She can’t go to human foster care, or get adopted by humans. It wouldn’t be right for her. I’ll ask Sadie what to do with her, there might be a family of witches who would adopt her around here.” Hope sad as she grabbed her phone. The officer still didn’t say a thing. Hope called Sadie, who was very disturbed about what happened. She said none of the witches would want to deal with a siphon baby. It was very rare and still kind of a stigma, so she said the baby would be better off with humans… it’s not like the baby would have magic on her own. She suggested it would be safer for everyone if she grew up with humans. Hope though about it, but it just wouldn’t settle with her. If she’d grow up with humans and she had no idea what she was and one day she could get in contact with a supernatural… without the knowledge it could be devastating. Hope couldn’t allow that. So she walked to George.

“George, her father is werewolf. I’m sure you have families in the Bayou who would be happy to adopt her. Maybe the father has any relatives?” She asked hopeful.

“Hope, we both know he wasn’t the father. This baby is not a wolf. Not even a regular witch. She doesn’t belong to us. She’d be better off with the humans.” George added.

“Yeah, perhaps… “ Hope sighed sadly. Before she gave the baby back to the police, she made an impulse decision and compelled the humans that there was no baby around. He told the witch policeman and George that she’ll find a home for the baby herself, then put her in one of the car seats she had in the car and took the baby home. “What the hell am I doing?” she asked herself as she drove home.

It was the middle of the night, everyone was sleeping. She walked to her room with this baby in her arms, she didn’t even know her name… she never even asked, just took her. It wasn’t right, she would’ve never done something like this before she had her own babies, but she couldn’t just abandon this little witch. She entered the bedroom. Landon opened his eyes as she walked in.

“Hey, you home!” He smiled. “Is everything okay? Which one is that? I didn’t hear them waking up.” He said noticing Hope holding a baby in the dark. Hope turned the light switch on and showed Landon the baby. “Hope, this is not our baby.” He looked at her concerned.

“I am aware Landon… she’s a witch, a siphon… her parents are dead and no one wanted her… I couldn’t just leave her to be adopted by humans… or worse… to live in the foster care system. I just took her Landon. What the hell did I do?” Hope started to panic and she placed the baby on their bed. The baby started to get fussy as she lost the contact.

“We have two babies Hope, we have our hands full. We can’t just have another baby… I mean we can talk about adoption someday but I don’t think it is the right time. She’s really cute tho.” Landon said as she smiled at the baby who now started to cry. Hope settled next to the crying baby and shushed her.

“I don’t know what I was thinking Lan! I can barely handle the two. When you and Scarlett are at school, if it wasn’t for Lizzie, sometimes I think I would go insane. It is already too much sometimes.” Hope took a deep breath then took the crying baby to sooth her. Then she thought of Lizzie again. No, she never mentioned anything like that, she discarded her thought quickly, especially because the baby wouldn’t settle and it distracted her thoughts.

“Maybe she’s hungry. I will make her a bottle.” Landon said smiling at Hope and the baby while he left the room. He soon returned with a full bottle and gave it to Hope to feed the baby girl.

“She was hungry.” Hope smiled as the baby sucked eagerly on the bottle.

“What’s her name?” Landon asked.

“I don’t know… I’ll ask George tomorrow, perhaps he knows.” Hope said it with guilt. “I’m sorry, it was such an impulse decision from me.”

“It’s okay, we figure out something, we’ll find a good home for her.” He smiled and Hope nodded as she fed the baby in her arms.

“I just thought of something… you know… Lizzie and MG?” Hope suggested him with a questioning look.

“Wow Hope… Did they ever tell you they wanted to adopt?” He asked.

“No, never… so I’m not sure, and it’s a big decision and Lizzie told me that she is accepted that she’s never going to have kids, so this might be a really bad idea.”

“Ask her anyway.” Landon encouraged her.

“And what shall I say? Hey Lizzie, I found a baby that no one wants. Do you want her? She’s not a lost kitten Landon. She’s a human being… well witch… but you know.”

“Just talk to her tomorrow. Either way, we’ll find a good home for this baby, I promise.” Landon caressed Hope’s cheek. Now let’s sleep now when all three are sleeping… I have a feeling this will be a long night.” Landon added with a smile as she stared at the baby who fell asleep in Hope’s arms. Hope nodded and settled the sleeping baby next to her then she fell asleep.

Landon was right, it was a long night. All three babies woke up several times. They woke up exhausted in the morning. Luckily it was a weekend, so Landon didn’t have to go to work and was able to help out more in the morning as well. It was only one more baby but it was chaos all around. They managed to make their way to the kitchen. All three babies were screaming. The twins recently started on solid food for breakfast, so Landon was blending some fruits for them while Hope mixed up formula for the two month old baby. The twins were screaming in their seats. Landon finally managed to finish their food. Nik took a spoonful and finally he calmed down, but Abbie dumped the whole bowl to the floor screaming. Hope started to get very irritated. She gave the youngest crying baby girl and a bottle to Landon, to feed her then she grabbed Abbie out of her chair and placed her on her breast to nurse her while she spoon fed Nik the fruits.

“You said we don’t do that for breakfast.” Landon said as she noticed Hope breastfeeding their daughter.

“Well, she clearly thought otherwise… and I don’t have the energy to argue with her now.” Hope said with an annoyed tone, then Scarlett entered the kitchen.

“What the hell? Don’t tell me you had an other baby.” She asked surprised as she watched the morning chaos in the kitchen.

“No, god no!” Hope replied immediately. “She’s just with us for a day or so, she’s a witch, her parents dead and we just need to find her a home.” Hope said.

“Oh. You need some help?” She said and took the baby out of Landon’s hand so he could help Hope. Hope got Abbie off her boob and handed her to Landon.

“Here, you try feed her now.” She smirked and continued to spoon feed Nik.

“Ouch” Scarlett screamed almost dropping the baby.

“Carful, she’s a siphon.” Hope warned her.

“You could’ve warned me before, I almost dropped her.” Scarlett snapped.

“I’m sorry but I was a little busy.” Hope snapped back at her.

“Okay , let’s just calm down. Hope, you take this baby and call Lizzie. Scarlett and I will take care of the twins. How’s that sound?”

“Fine” Hope said still quite tense. She took the baby from Scarlett, who was done eating luckily, and left the kitchen with her. She went upstairs to their bedroom and rocked the baby to sleep. When she finally fell asleep she called Lizzie.

“Hope, what’s up?” Lizzie picked up the phone.

“Hey, I wanted to ask you something… but umm… maybe in person.

“You sound serious. Is everything okay?”

“Sure… maybe both MG and you should come over.” Hope said nervously.

“Okay Hope, see you soon.”

Landon and Scarlett took the twins out to the park so Hope could talk to Lizzie and MG. Hope was really nervous, she didn’t know how Lizzie would react. When they arrived, Hope sat them down in the living room.

“What’s going on? You making me nervous, Hope! Is everyone okay?” Lizzie asked her anxiously.

“Yeah, yeah, everyone is fine and everything is fine. Don’t worry!” Hope smiled.

“Is Landon around? or just the three of us?” MG asked curiously. He and Hope never really hanged out, only when Lizzie and Landon were around.

“He went to the park with the kids.” Hope replied vaguely, they both looked at her questioningly. “Yesterday night I was called to a crime scene.” Hope started to talk. “Two dead. A crazy wolf who killed her human wife then himself. Probably because the wife cheated on him, but who knows… presumably the wolf hadn’t transition in years so he wasn’t exactly sane. The woman had a baby, no one knows who the father is, but the baby is a siphon. I asked the witches and the wolves but no one wanted to do anything to a siphoner. They both suggested to let the baby be adopted by humans.” Hope explained shortly what happened the night before.

“Oh god, no. That’s the worst you can do to a siphon. Sure, maybe it’s easier when they little to be around non supernatural but they’ll never learn to control their power that way.” Lizzie stated firmly.

“That’s what I thought.” Hope said smiling. “But I’m not sure what to do with her now.” Hope said anxiously.

“What do you mean? Where is she?” MG asked curiously.

“Sleeping, upstairs in my bedroom… I just took her because no one wanted her.” Hope shrugged.

“Hope! You gonna keep her?” Lizzie asked shocked.

“No. We can’t. We have two babies Liz, it’s just too much… I… ammm… we need to find her a good home, where she’d be accepted and where she can learn what it means to be a siphon witch.” Hope looked at them both. Lizzie looked at Hope questioningly then she just laughed but then she looked at MG who looked quite serious then Lizzie looked at Hope again. “Amm… I think she’s awake. I’ll go check on her…. excuse me.” Hope left, she wanted to leave them alone to talk about it without any pressure. They understood what Hope was suggesting without saying the words, and without saying it, if they are not interested they didn’t have to actually turn down anything. Hope went upstairs, because she did hear the baby making some noise. She tried her hardest not to listen in Lizzie’s and MG’s conversation. Hope picked up the baby then made their way to the kitchen and fixed her a bottle. She was feeding her in the kitchen and she just couldn’t help herself, she decided to listen in their conversation, when suddenly Lizzie blusted the kitchen door in.

“I want her! I want her Hope! MG wants her! We want her!” She yelled excited.

“Are you serious?” Hope asked her with a relieved smile, and MG appeared behind Lizzie, who hugged her and kissed her from behind.

“We are.” MG replied. “It cannot be a coincidence that you found a siphon baby who no one wanted. Who would be better raising a siphon witch than a siphon witch? How rare is a siphon anyway?”

“Very rare. I don’t know any other besides me and my sister, not even Liam or Luke.” Lizzie smiled and kissed MG. Hope just finished feeding the baby so she got up and took the baby to Lizzie and MG to see. The baby had cute chubby cheeks, black hair and huge chocolate brown eyes. “Oh my god! Can I?” Lizzie asked and Hope placed the baby in her arms. Lizzie just stared at the baby for a while before her tears started to fall. “God! She’s my daughter, I can feel it.” MG touched the little baby’s soft cheeks.

“She’s really our daughter? I can’t believe it’s real.” MG was tearing up looking at her wife with the baby girl in her arms.

“You wanna hold her? Lizzie asked her husband.

“I’m afraid I’m gonna break her. She’s so tiny.”

“You are not gonna break her.” Lizzie handed her the baby. “Just hold her head and her back.” She instructed. Lizzie was crying as she saw MG holding the baby, their baby. Even Hope got emotional.

“Hope” Lizzie cried. “Thank you!” She hugged her and Hope hugged her back. “Thank you for thinking of us, I love you so much!”

They never found out what the baby’s name was, but Lizzie and MG didn’t mind. It was a new life for their little girl and they said they had the perfect name for her. They threw a whole name reveal party after they officially adopted the baby. All their closest friends and family was there. Lizzie said a speech, before revealing the name, MG holding the baby next to her as she spoke.

“Hope, you are the reason we have a beautiful daughter and we couldn’t be more grateful. I could only dare to hope in my wildest dreams that I could ever experience what it is to be a mother. And now thanks to you, it’s reality. So MG and I decided that there’s only one name that would perfectly fit our little girl and would show our gratitude. Everyone, meet our daughter, Hope Greasley.”

As time went by, Hope and Lizzie spent even more time together during the day with their babies, when their other half was working. As the twins grew they, looked more and more like their parents. As much as Scarlett was the perfect mix of the two, the twins were the opposite. Abbie had beautiful auburn hair and striking blue eyes while Nik had crazy black curls with those beautiful green eyes of Landon. While Nik was a total momma’s boy, Abbie was her daddy’s girl. Landon couldn’t say no to those cute chubby cheeks and huge blue eyes. Scarlett ended up finishing her high school years in New Orleans, she never really made it to the Salvatore school. She loved her family, she never even imagined that she’d had so many people to love her.

On the night of Scarlett’s eighteenth birthday Hope was exhausted. They had a whole day celebration. Landon and Hope went above and beyond to make their firstborn happy. Their whole family was there. Lizzie, MG and little Hope. Josie, Penelope and their twins Luke and Liam. Raf, Brook and the other hybrids attended as well. They hang so much around Hope and the whole family that they practically became family. Abbie and Nik enjoyed the big celebration as well. Abbie loved attention and people, she charmed everyone around her. Nik was a little reserved at the first sight of the many people around their home, but some cuddles and kisses from momma made it all better. The kids were running around and playing in no time. Scarlett was enjoying her day, she took everything in but she was a little quiet. When everyone went home Scarlett and Hope had a conversation. Hope knew she was going to university soon but Scarlett was considering many options, even the one in New Orleans. Hope really hoped she would stay but when they sat down to talk, she already knew what Scarlett was going to stay. She got accepted to a very good university which was in the other side of the country. Hope cried so much but it wasn’t only sadness. She was really proud of her girl that she grew up to be such a smart independent woman. They will miss each other tremendously, they both cried like babies but it was normal and healthy for Scarlett to move out and for Hope to let her go. Hope made sure she knew that she was always welcome home and she had to be home for every main holiday, that was Hope’s only request. After their talk Scarlett went to the city to finish her birthday with partying with her friends all night. Hope cleaned up while Landon tucked their toddlers in. After she finished she went to the twin’s room. She kissed them both goodnight and told them how much she loved them. Then she entered her and Landon’s bedroom. Landon was already in bed reading a book. When she saw Hope come in he put down his book on the night stand and had the warmest smile on his face. Hope got undressed and settled into her loving husbands arms.


End file.
